New Avengers
by Ashley Appleappachia Rae
Summary: From Blake and Pietro's POV. After the events of Age of Ultron and You Didn't See That Coming: /s/11217807/1/You-Didn-t-See-That-Coming. Blake and Pietro adjust to life as part of the Avengers and deal with the strains of duty vs dedication to the people they love and the rest of the team. With Wanda Maximoff, Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers & Clint Barton.
1. Chapter 1

New Avengers

Avengers Headquarters, Upstate NY : 7.58am

2 Months Later

 **BLAKE**

I was woken by the sound of the shower and turned over in bed. Something was missing. I stretched out my arm feeling the empty space next to me and realised what it was.

"Pietro?" I said raising myself up on my elbow. The cover slipped down my back so the cool air stung my skin, the window was open and traces of steam were leaking out of the gap. I reached down to slip on my dressing gown and glanced over at the clock, it was almost eight. A moment later it hit the hour and I groaned. It only got in half a buzz before it was shut off though. At the same moment I heard the shower stop and the door to the bathroom close. Pietro had already grabbed a towel and hit the alarm so it wouldn't wake me. I smiled as I watched him move over to the open window and close it quietly. Tiny droplets of water were glistening in his silver hair, I thought how cold he must be as they dropped onto his chest and shoulders.

I don't think he knew I was awake yet so I kept silent. The bed moved as he sat down on its end and flexed his right arm. It must still be bothering him from last week's mission. It had happened when Steve's shield glanced off Pietro's arm almost hitting me and Wanda in the process, luckily it was only a graze but the force of it had left a sizable bruise and a huge dent in the wall behind us. I had no doubt he had seen it coming and jumped in front of us to stop it, a habit I really wished he'd grow out of.

I pushed myself up and quietly moved to his side. "Morning" I said and hugged my arms around his chest from behind. He jumped and looked round.

"Hey, did I wake you?" he said moving his arm back so he could reach my face

"No" I said resting my chin on his shoulder "What are you doing up so early?" I flinched as a cold droplet of water dripped onto my cheek, confusingly it contrasted with the heat of his damp skin. He unsuccessfully tried to disguise a yawn so I pulled his chin round to see his face and saw dark rings under his eyes "Did you get any sleep?" I asked

"A little" he said shrugging like it was nothing

"Me _again_?" I asked internally cringing. He gave me a weary smile and leant his head back onto mine "I'm sorry" I said pulling my arms back "I should stop sleeping over, I'm just keeping you awake."

My dreams had become increasingly vivid over the past few months. I barely got any sleep anymore and knew for a fact I talked when I did because he'd teased me about it once or twice. Apparently it had something to do with him because when I woke he had been staring at me with a very smug look on his face. But they weren't all good dreams, some had gotten so bad now I was afraid to fall asleep whenever Pietro wasn't around. The best way to keep the violent dreams at bay was having someone with me because it was ten times worse when I was on my own.

"Oh really? Then where would you keep all of this?" he said grinning and gesturing round the room. At least half of my possessions were now here. Since his room was the bigger and was closer to the training bay it seemed like the logical choice.

"I have my own room, it's that weird box down the hall we never go in. I can easily move all this crap back there." I didn't want to but I couldn't be selfish when it came to his health against mine. He gave me an amused smile and shook his head.

"Nice try" he said pulling me towards him. "You're not going anywhere."

My witty retort was cut off when he leant forward and pressed his lips against mine. As his wet skin brushed up against me I gripped his hair tightly in my hand to keep our bodies as close as possible. A moment later though I let go because the water from his hair had started to drip uncomfortably down my arm.

"That's weird." I said drying my hand on the duvet. He laughed and ran his own through his hair then wiped it across my face.

I looked up in shock "Oh you're gonna pay for that" I said grinning. He raised his eyebrows amused and jumped up so fast I didn't have time to react. He was halfway through getting dressed into his uniform when I got to my feet. I looked out of the window and saw the rain coming down in sheets. Just perfect, crappy weather wasn't good at the best of times but on field mission days it was even worse.

The bathroom was still clouded with steam when I opened the door, I wiped my hand across the mirror and examined my refection. I guess I didn't have a good night's sleep either because I looked nearly as tired as Pietro. My energy dipped suddenly and I slumped forward holding onto the sink for support. He was by my side in an instant one hand on my back and the other on my shoulder.

I looked up in surprise. "What is it?" he asked looking panicked.

"Stop fretting I'm alright." I said squeezing his hand. I got this kind of thing all the time now, like having my new power automatically gave me killer migraines on top of the nightmares.

He didn't seem to buy that though because he looked even more concerned "You're not...I mean are you..." he asked looking me over.

I was confused by his question until his eyes came to rest on my stomach "Wow no I'm not." I said shaking my head maybe a little too vigorously "It's just ability side effects."

I couldn't work out whether he looked relived or disappointed as he let out a shaky laugh "Alright." he said and kissed my cheek before leaving the bathroom.

I'd have to get used to his overprotective tendencies, they were well honed over a lifetime of watching out for his sister. I shook my head trying to rid the thoughts now crowding into my mind and focused on getting ready.

"You ready?" I said finally emerging and pulling my hair up into a hair band. "I said I'd meet Wanda, you want some breakfast first?" he glanced back at me from the closet where he was pulling out a jacket.

"Thought you'd never ask."

We made our way to the kitchen knocking on Wanda's door as we passed. She didn't answer but we found her sitting with her back to us at the kitchen table. Her hands were outstretched and seemed to be holding up numerous floating pieces of cutlery and china. A spoon and bowl ambled lazily around each other like they were suspended the river of red energy seeping from her fingertips. Pietro clapped her on the back and she looked round, the bowl began to fall but he caught it before it could hit the table top and started to pour cereal into it. I sat down next to her and pulled a few slices of toast towards me.

"Looking good." I said pointing to the remaining hovering objects. She glanced back at them absentmindedly and they returned to their places on the countertop. I had the feeling she didn't even need her full concentration to keep them afloat anymore.

"I was just practicing." she said smiling at me and lowering her hands. I probably should have been doing the same thing but I'd been too preoccupied with her brother recently.

"What time is take off?" I asked

She looked over to the clock on the stove "Twenty minutes. We should probably get going soon." I nodded and finished off the last of my breakfast. Pietro stuffed a few more mouthfuls in a stood up as well. A group of recruits entered the room and their conversation died at they spotted us. A few of them I knew well from training, at least I did before I moved. They gave me curt nods and stared nervously at the other two.

"Come on." I said feeling agitated. Pietro put his arm round my shoulders as we walked out of the room. Since I joined the Avengers Initiative my old friends had begun to treat me differently. I sometimes heard them whisper things behind my back as I walked by and thought nothing they had to say could be good. I knew half of them thought the only reason I'd been reassigned was my relationship with Pietro and how close I was with the team. Yes he'd been the one to suggest it in the first place but it hadn't been the deciding factor. Anyway he didn't make the decision, I did.

"Little hero" I heard one of the guys snicker behind me and I spun around clenching my fists. He was giving me an antagonistic look, begging me to start a fight. Pietro stepped forward looking more than willing.

"What did you just say?" I spat at him but Wanda's hands shot out to stop us both from taking another step.

" _Don't_ " she said in a cool voice looking back at the boy. Her eyes flashed red and he stepped back in alarm. She turned back to us and pushed us out of the room before we could say another word. "Do you want to get in trouble with Fury?" she asked me once we were out of the room.

"I'm sick of this Wanda." I said setting off down the hall before I could change my mind.

"Blake wait" Pietro caught up to me and grabbed my arm.

I turned to face him feeling extremely annoyed but stopped when I saw the look on his face. "It's like this every day now. You'd think I cheated or tricked my way in." I said knowing that I must sound like a whining child.

Wanda strolled calmly up to us and placed her hand on my shoulder. "They just don't understand." she said throwing a piteous look back at the door "They want to be in your shoes and they know they never can." I let my shoulders fall and brushed my fringe out of my eyes.

"They have no idea." I said thinking of the dangers me and my team faced every time we stepped out that front door. We were the front the world saw for powered people. If given the chance I wondered how many of them would deal with the pressure being an Avenger.

"I know" said Wanda giving my shoulder a tight squeeze and I felt some of the tension lift. "But we have a job to do, and you are too smart to let this get in the way of that." she finished looking directly into my eyes. She was right but since I'd started dating Pietro I'd found myself more and more prone to hot-headedness like I'd just displayed. I let out a deep breath trying to calm myself and gestured down the hall.

"After you." I said with a slight smile

Pietro tilted my face up to meet his gaze. "You are on this team because you earned it and because you belong here. Don't let those idiots tell you different." I smiled and pulled his waist band so he had to stand directly in front of me.

"When did you get all wise?"

"About two second ago" he replied grinning down at me

I heard an amused sigh and looked down the hall to see Wanda holding the door open for us. I detached myself from Pietro and followed her into the armoury.

Nat was waiting for us and strapping on her gun. She looked up as we entered and gave me a quick grin. I took the gun she offered me and fitted into my holster.

"Right that's all of you. Cap you wanna do the honours?" she asked as Steve emerged from a side door holding his shield. Pietro glared at it and shifted his injured arm.

Steve stood at the front of the room next to some blueprints "This is strictly take down. As we said the other day an abandoned Hydra base was located a few hours out of the city. We got wind of a small group entering the building yesterday and put agents on recon. No one has come in or out since then so we assume the same group is still inside. It's our job to get in and clear it, any civilians need emergency evac call back up immediately." He looked round at us individually "You got this?" I nodded and went to grab a Kevlar vest from the wall resisting the urge, as I always did, to throw one at Pietro.

"You won't need that" said Nat getting to her feet. I gave her a questioning look and she pointed to my locker "Got some new toys for you." she punched in the combination and the door swung opened.

I exhaled in awe and looked back at her for confirmation.

"Well we thought since you've been on the team for a few months you'd earned it." I laughed out loud an turned back to the locker.

My uniform hung there staring back at me. It was mostly made of a strong black fabric, hints of mossy green leather ran throughout the design and made up the bodice like top that fitted under my chest and protected my vital organs. The long sleeves were laced up down the centre and ended in strong metal-like bracers. Two slits ran up each side of the skirt to allow for movement and underneath I could see a pair of thick black leggings and tall combat boots. It looked nothing like anything I'd ever seen and yet it was completely me. If I had to compare it to anything it would be that of an Asgardian warrior.

I turned to stare at Nat "This is all mine?" she picked up a box from her feet and handed it to me.

"These too." I couldn't think what I could possibly want more until I opened the box. Inside sat two perfectly carved axe blades. They were ornately made with clips on each end. I didn't know how I could use them without setting my gun aside but that was answered for me pretty quickly.

Steve stepped forward smiling at the look on my face and picked one of them up. "Here" he said moving to the locker "When you're not using them they slot into there." He pointed to a strap on the side of my boot "And when you do, just clip them into here. Just watch where you swing when you've got them on." he finished clipping one blade into the underside of my bracer. I was lost for words.

"They were tailored specifically to your hand to hand combat skills, you should do fine with them." said Nat

"You like it?" Wanda asked expectantly "I helped with the design." I gave her a one armed hug holding the box away from our bodies.

"I love it, how did you know?"

"I remember you saying how much you loved Lady Sif's armour. It went from there." So I had been right, very Asgardian.

"Well" said Nat looking impatient but smiling all the same "Go and get it on, we move out in ten."

I gathered it all up in the box and went to change. I emerged ten minutes later feeling immediately on show. Wanda gave me an impressed smile as she pulled off her gloves.

"Let's go then." said Nat nudging me and moving towards the hanger doors "You ready?"

I nodded as she passed and strapped my gun onto my boot along with the blades. I felt more at home with it there instead of relying fully on my new weapons. Pietro was the last person to pass me. He stopped and looked me over before leaning down to whisper in my ear.

"I'm not going to lie, you look really hot."

I laughed and pushed him back "Good, because I feel like an idiot." I said shifting uncomfortably in my new clothes.

He raised an eye brow and turned me to face the mirror. I barely recognised the woman staring back at me. She stood as steady and strong as the man behind her and her body seemed to radiate power with every movement. I tilted my head to the side just to check it was still me. The whole thing fit like a glove making use of both my muscles and my curves. I noticed that my hair and eyes matched the outfit perfectly, clearly Wanda had a knack for this kind of thing.

"Hmm" I said turning round to face him "Not as bad as I thought." he laughed and we heard Steve shout us from the hanger.

"Time to go to work." I said stepping forward and opening the door. In one swift motion Pietro grabbed me from behind and before I knew it we were on the jet. He set me down and I gratefully planted my feet on the hard metal. I looked back at him amused.

"Sorry" he said raising his shoulders "Couldn't help myself."

I dropped his hand and I beat twice on the wall to the cock pit "All set Nat." I shouted and felt the jet come to life under my toes. Steve tossed us a few coms and I hooked mine onto my ear.

"So where we headed?" I asked Steve over the roar of the engines as Pietro took a seat opposite and rested his feet on a box next to me.

"Brookhaven, Long Island." he said

I felt my stomach clench. Pietro sat forward looking at me in concern "Blake?" He knew why I'd suddenly gone white. Brookhaven was my home town, and my family still lived there.


	2. Chapter 2

**_BLAKE_**

I couldn't stop my hands from shaking as the jet raced towards my home so I stuffed them behind my seat and tried to keep calm. It was a big place, no doubt they were all safe at home. But I couldn't stop the nagging feeling creeping into my chest. I hadn't been able to get in touch with them last night and thought nothing of it at the time. I looked up at Pietro, he was giving me a calm defiant look, silently assuring me everything would be fine. Nothing was fine when Hydra was involved, I leant my head back in my seat and took a deep breath. He saw my panic and tapped Steve on the arm.

"How long until we get there?" he asked. Steve looked out a window to check our position.

"Fifteen minutes or so" he replied and I groaned. I needed to be there now.

"Hey Nat?" I said knocking on the wall "Can you step on it?" Steve looked at me in confusion, he didn't know about my family, I didn't even know if Nat did. It was all on file but I doubted any of it mattered after I got into Shield.

"It's a jet Blake, not a sports car." she replied pushing forward a few levers. I couldn't be sure but I thought I felt our speed increase slightly.

We touched down ten minutes later and I all but jumped off as the hanger doors opened with Pietro right behind me. A few agents turned as we approached.

"What's the situation?" I asked pushing forward and getting there before Steve even had a chance. The agent looked taken a back but answered quickly pointing at the building down the hill.

"Seven armed inside the building and five outside." she looked too nervous to carry on I gave her and impatient look "Well ma'am, we recorded half a dozen civilians being taken in an hour ago. They haven't come out a yet." I felt ice trickle down my neck and clenched my teeth.

"Visual?"

"Two men and three woman, plus a minor, female." Steve arrived behind me catching the end of the conversation.

"Romanoff." he called back to Nat "You got the perimeter guards?"

She nodded with a smile "My pleasure." she said and took off down the hill. Within seconds I'd lost sight of her.

"What do we do now?" asked Wanda

"Wait" replied Steve.

I reached for my phone and dialled home again. No one answered. I felt like venting my anger on a nearby tree but Pietro took my hands in his and pulled me into his chest.

"You can't afford to lose it, not here." he murmured into my hair. I nodded and slipped my phone back into my pocket. The com crackled in my ear and Nat's voice spoke up.

"Perimeter is clear. I'm going in- wait." I froze when I heard gunshots in the distance.

"Natasha?" said Steve holding his finger to his ear "Do you copy?"

"Hey Cap, you might wanna hurry with that back up. They know we're here." I looked at him in alarm.

"Stay here" he said to the other agents "Keep on coms in case we need you. You three, with me."

We set off at a run with Pietro in front clearing the path and emerged next to a wire fence. We could hear commotion on the far side of the building and I stepped forward to rip the fence down.

"No." said Steve holding up his shield "This is less noticeable." Wanda had no problem getting past the defences on her own and Pietro darted right over the top. I waited for Steve's go ahead and walked back a few paces. He crouched down and held his shield over his head. I ran forward and jumped into it. He threw up his arm and I was boosted up over the fence. I landed on my feet and placed my hands on the ground steady myself. He dropped down next to me a second later and we took off round the building.

We rounded a corner and Pietro threw out an arm to stop us. Heavy gunfire had converged on the courtyard and I could barely see what was happening. There was a lot of yelling as a group of men converged on Natasha. I couldn't remember seeing anything more deadly as I watched her fight, so fluid and lethal. She used most of them as a shield as she took down one after another before picking up a fallen gun and aiming for the guard towers. Wanda stepped round the corners and pulled back her hand in a swift swipe. The two remaining shooters were picked up and slammed into the far wall. Nat looked round.

"Better late than never." she said catching her breath.

"You didn't think we'd let you have all the fun did you." said Steve stepping up to the door and trying the handle. "Locked."

"Why don't you try Alohomora?" I said grinning and Pietro laughed

"I don't get" said Steve looking confused

"Never mind I got this." I said marching up to the door. "You might wanna step back." I pulled my right leg close to my body and threw it out as hard as I could. It connected with the metal and the door banged open. "On your count." I said turning to Steve and he passed me holding up his shield.

We entered the building and split up into two groups. Wanda and Pietro took the top floor and me, Steve and Nat took the bottom. We branched off as each room came into view. The very last room down the hall was lit. I looked back at Nat who was a room behind me and waved my hand. She silently moved to my side and looked round the door.

It was some kind of lab. Machines whirred all around, dials and lights flashing everywhere you looked. I spotted a man holding his gun on a group of cowering people in the corner. He had his back to us and was prodding a weeping woman with the end of his gun. The rest of the room was split in two by a glass panelled wall. Through it I could see a man bent over a work bench, a small body lay on it wriggling against their bonds. He was too preoccupied with his work to notice Nat. She snuck into the room and jabbed the man with the gun in the back, he went ridged and she put him in a chock hold until he passed out.

The man in the other room was humming to himself and selecting tools from a long satchel. I glanced back as Nat laid the unconscious man on the ground and signalled me to untie the group of people. I looked at them properly for the first time and dropped to my feet next to the weeping woman.

"Mom?" she looked up at me in shock

"Blake?" she whispered looking at me as if she didn't recognise me. I wiped the tears from her cheeks and tried to untie her. "No honey" she said holding her hand to my face "You shouldn't have come. It's a trap, they want you." I looked back at Nat and she shuck her head.

"The teams here everything's gonna be ok. Where's Dad?" Someone pushed their way to the front of the group and threw their arms around me.

"Oh hey." I said patting him on the back and trying to keep quite.

"You gotta get her." he said pulling away and pointing to the work bench in the far room. I squinted but couldn't see the body for the man stood in front of it.

"We will." said Nat cutting the ropes and ushering the people towards the door "We gotta get you out first."

"No! I won't leave her!" my Mom yelled and I tried to shush her. The man turned round a terrible glint in his eyes.

"Mom go!" I said pushing her towards the door "Rogers?" I said into my com "Got a situation here, can you get the people out?" I didn't need to call him because he was already at the door. Nat trained her gun on the man as Steve chivvied the people out of the room. My parents gave me one last look of panic and left the room. I heard Wanda's voice in my ear telling us that building was clear of hostiles.

"The infamous Blake Widow." said the man putting down his tools "What an honour, but I have to confess it wasn't you I intended to see today." his gaze lingered on me and I noticed how young he was. "Deveraux." he said giving me a small bow "I wondered if we could talk alone?"

"No way in hell." I growled. He raised his eyebrows and stepped aside so I could see the person struggling on the bench.

"Bennett!" I shouted running forward. She raised her head and shouted back to me. Nat grabbed my arm before I could get any closer. "Nat you don't understand, that's my sister!" I said struggling to brake free. I heard her screaming my name and wanted more than anything to get to her.

"There now" said the man stroking her hair "Your big sister understands what will happen if I don't get what I need."

"Don't you touch her!" I snarled and he held up is hands giving me a brief smirk

"All I want is a moment alone with you and I'll let her go." I gave Nat a pleading look and she released my arm.

"Don't do anything stupid" she whispered "I'll be right outside the door."

"Correction" piped up the man holding up a finger "You and the rest of your little team will wait outside the building, I hear one sound that means you're any closer" he laughed and gripped the side of the work bench "Well, you probably won't like the outcome."

Nat gave me a fleeting glance and pushed something hard into my hand. "You get clear, use it." she said before closing the door behind her. I heard Pietro's loud voice shouting my name through the com and took it out of my ear.

The man sighed and sat down in a chair. "Well don't just stand around, come on in." I moved to the bench and stood next to my sister. She grabbed my hand with her tiny one and kept quite. I couldn't believe how brave she was being.

"I got you little one." I said squeezing her fingers before turning to face the man "What do you want?"

He leaned forward in his chair giving me an inquisitive look "God, you look so different. You really are acting the hero now. But then I guess I always knew you were special."

"What?" I asked coldly feeling like he was just playing for time

"I'm kinda hurt you don't recognise me. You used to know every inch of this body. I guess I've changed too, I mean it's been years."

That stopped me dead. I looked at his face again and saw something faintly familiar. "Chris?"

He clapped his hands "So you do recognise me. It's been a long time Blake. They grow up so fast don't they." he said gesturing to my sister "Last time I saw you she was just a baby. It's amazing how we all go our separate ways."

"To Hydra? When we were kids you wanted to be a doctor." I said throwing it back in his face

"Oh I am, well not the conventional type I guess. But you get work where you can find it these days. You're one to talk, the Avengers? Really?" I said nothing. "I freaked when I saw you on the TV, I couldn't believe you'd grown into this." he said pointing to me "They're just a bunch of vigilantes, you're better than that." I gave him a disgusted look. "Hey I didn't mean to offend." he said raising his hands "I know that Quicksilver dude is your boyfriend or whatever but remember when that was me? Good times eh?" I still kept silent, I had nothing to say to him.

He slammed his hands down the work top. "Give me something Blake I'm dying here."

I looked up and glared at him "You're not yet, but you will."

He stood up and smiled at me "That's my girl." I raised a hand and he stopped in his tracks.

"I am _not_ your girl and I've had enough of this catch up crap. Tell me what you want and let us go." he sat back down.

"Fair enough, I get it's a bit of a tense time. All I need is your blood."

I laughed coldly "That's all? No way."

"That's why I brought your family in, your Mom, Dad, and sister have to have something in their DNA that corresponds with your specific enhanced abilities. We just want to test it. We already have samples of theirs plus and bunch load from other enhanced around the area." I looked round at the room and saw vials upon vials of dark red liquid, each labelled with a name and number. I noticed my Mom's vial was sat in the fridge next to my Dad's and Bennett's.

"Why?" I asked and he looked impatient

"Making more like you, duh." He said turning his back. In that split second he faced the wall I reached down and pulled out one of my blades cutting the strap closest my arm. I held Bennett's arm back as she tried to get up and shuck my head. Chris turned again and I looked back at him keeping the attention on me.

"You guys really haven't learnt from the last umpteen times you tried this. It's never going to work." He went to the fridge and opened it, I reached over and cut the other strap.

"Your boyfriend is living proof it does work." he said pulling out a few vials

"You idiot, that wasn't enhanced blood. They were screwing around with Loki's sceptre, and in case you hadn't heard that doesn't exist anymore." He frowned

"We'll make it work somehow. The world needs more soldiers like you"

"We are not soldiers."

"Hmm is that what you all think, tell me where do you get your orders from?" I didn't say a word, I knew my place in the group and didn't need him to screw with that.

"Good to see you're still as stubborn as you always were. We can still figure this out though."

"Well good luck with that, but you're not getting my blood." I threw the blade at him and it lodged in his arm. I lifted Bennett of the table and ran for the door. There was a crash behind us and I saw Chris stumble into the vials of blood. A few containers shattered on the floor pooling in a crimson mess at his feet. I knew I couldn't leave Hydra with them, they all had to be destroyed. I turned to Bennett and grabbed the com from my pocket.

"Ok sweetie I need you call into this for help" I said pointing to the com "And run to the front door, don't look back."

"But what about you?" I looked back and saw Chris drag himself to his feet. I opened the door and pointed down the hall giving her a small smile.

"I'll meet you outside, go find Mom." she set off and I closed the door behind her. Chris glared at me as he wrenched my blade out of his arm. I walked back to the glass room and pulled the grenade out that Nat had given me.

"Don't do this. I'm just trying to help!" he yelled at me holding onto his bleeding arm

"Thanks, but we really don't need it." I pulled out the pin and threw it into the room. I just had time to slam the door shut before it went off. The force of the blast threw me into the far wall making stars pop in front of my eyes. The fire alarms went off almost at once and water started dripping down my back. I looked back and saw the glass room was ablaze. Huge cracks in the ceiling were radiating from the corner of the room. I heard a tiny shout from the door and saw Bennett running towards me.

I tried to get up but my leg wouldn't support me, looking down I saw a piece of shrapnel was poking out of my calf.

"No Ben you gotta run, get out of here." I yelled. She grabbed my arm and started to pull me towards the door.

"Not without you." she said straining against my weight. I heard parts of the ceiling coming down behind me. I couldn't get her out of here on my own and she was in very immediate danger.

 _My sister, my responsibility._

"Pietro!" I shouted grabbing the com from her ear

"Blake! What's going on we heard an explosion?"

"We're in the lab." I looked up and he was standing at the door. I beckoned to him and passed him Bennett.

"This is Pietro, he's gonna get you out of here." she wrapped her hands round his neck and clung on as huge chunks of the ceiling began to rain down behind us.

"No I'm not going to leave you here." he said taking my hand attempting to pull me to my feet. I pulled it back and shook my head.

"I can't walk and you can't carry me, _please_ Pietro you have to leave."

"No!" he shouted adamantly

"I need you to do this for me, it's my little sister." I said over the noise hearing my voice crack.

He hesitated and looked at Bennett latched onto his neck. "Ok I'll be right back."

I shoved against his leg trying to get him to move "Go, Run!" I screamed letting go of his hand. He gave me once last desperate look and ran for it.

He had cleared the room when the ceiling came down, I raised my arm over my head to shield myself and felt a slab of rock slam into my head.


	3. Chapter 3

**_PIETRO_**

I skidded to a stop just outside of the building and heard a huge crash behind me as dust bellowed out of the open door .

"No!" I hugged Bennett close as she began to scream for her sister. I felt my knees begin to shake and handed her to her mother before I lost my grip. From the looks on everyone's faces I guessed what had happened. I span round and darted back into the building but couldn't see a thing. The hall was blocked with debris and I couldn't get any further. The rock was so thick that when beat against the stone it wouldn't move an inch.

From beyond the wreckage there came an ear splitting scream that turned the blood to ice in my veins "Blake!" I shouted as loud as I could but got no response. The only sounds now were of shifting rubble. If I didn't get in there soon she'd be completely buried.

I grabbed my sister and brought her back in, maybe she could do something to get me in there. She looked in horror at the mess and squeezed my hand "She's still in there." I said and her eyes went wide

"We have to get her out" she said in a shaky voice. I caught her arm and dashed up the stairs to the room above the lab. The floor was all but gone and mounds of rubble had fallen into the room below. I couldn't see Blake at all so she had to be somewhere underneath it all.

"Can you move it?" I asked but she was already working, I saw her fall to her knees as the weight of the rubble was lifted out of the room. With one last effort she threw it through a window at the back of the building and smashed through the wall. I hoisted her and myself down into the room and scanned around.

Someone's limp form was splayed in the corner of the room under a ceiling beam. It was Blake, she lay in a heap on the floor bleeding from her head. I darted to her side and lifted the beam off her but she still wasn't moving even when I pulled her head onto my knee. A hot substance dripped onto my leg and I saw a huge chunk of metal protruding from her ankle leaking blood all over the ground. I gritted my teeth trying not to think of the pain she was in.

I looked up at Wanda seeking advice, comfort, something! But she just looked down at the broken body in my arms as if she wasn't even in the room.

"Blake! Hey come on, open your eyes." I shook her slightly and saw her eyelids flutter.

She groaned and tried to focus on me "Pietro? I'm..cold" she mumbled and Wanda crouched down next to her laying her jacket on top of Blake, that wouldn't do much good if we couldn't stop the bleeding though.

Blood was streaked down the side of her face from the gash on her head. I tried to slow it with a my sleeve but it stained so quickly it didn't do a thing to help. My bloody fingers began to tremble as her head fell to the side "No don't you dare, stay awake!" I said hearing my voice crack. Her eyes closed again and her breathing started to get shallower and shallower.

That was it. I grabbed her and lifted her into my arms. Wanda finally came to life "Watch her head" she shouted.

"I know." I said cradling Blake's head so I didn't hurt her "Now get us out of here." I felt the tiniest hint of guilt for talking to her like that but considering the situation I knew she'd never hold it against me. She blasted our way out of the room and I ran outside.

"Romanoff, jet now." I shouted and Steve moved forward to take Blake from me "I got her Rogers." I snapped moving back. I looked at Natasha, she recovered from her shock enough to run towards the jet. A few Hydra agents were laying on the ground their hands strapped to posts on the fence. If I had my way they'd all be dead by now. I heard Blake's family screaming behind me and tried not to turn. Steve put his hand on my shoulder and looked at me very seriously.

"I'll stay with them, you get her help." I nodded and took off. Natasha was already in her seat and ready to go when something jammed the doors from the outside and Wanda slipped through. I sighed with relief. I needed her here. Natasha took off right away and I tried to absorb most of the shock to keep my arms steady. Wanda laid out a life jacket from the wall and I lowered Blake's head onto it.

I looked down at her then for the first time since leaving the building and felt my heart stop. All the life and colour had gone from her skin, it was deathly pale and stained with dark blood. Smeared red finger prints covered her cheek from where I'd been holding her. Her lips were parted as she drew in long rattling breaths. I should have gone back for her sooner, it should have been me under that rubble. I stood up and kicked a crate swearing loudly.

"Pietro!" said Wanda from the ground holding Blake's hand "Stop."

I dragged my slick fingers through my hair and pointed back at Blake "Look at her Wanda, she is going to die if she doesn't get help soon. This stupid thing isn't going fast enough!" I lashed out at the wall and felt my knuckles split. Wanda jumped to her feet and pulled my hands together.

"She is not going to die. Do you understand" she said shaking me "We won't let her." I pulled her into a hug to try to calm myself.

"I can't lose her" I said into her hair and felt her nod.

"I can't either, she's like my sister." she said trying to conceal a sob

A moment later Blake's body began convulsing.

"She's going into shock" yelled Natasha from the cock pit. She shouted commands at the dashboard and jumped over the back of her seat "Epinephrine, top box." she said pointing to the med kit. I grabbed it and threw it to her. Wanda buried her face in my chest as Natasha stabbed the needle into Blake's leg. After a few seconds her body relaxed and went limp.

"C'mon kiddo breath." she said thickly shaking Blake's hand "Sweetie come on." It worked, Blake started to breathe again but just barely. Natasha wiped her arm across her head. I hadn't seen her this worried since Sokovia. "We'll never make it." she said finally and Wanda stepped forward.

"Yes she will." she said and turned to me. I caught on immediately

"Romanoff let me out." I said moving towards her "I can get there faster."

"No offense but carrying another person, I don't know if you will."

I stooped down and gathered Blake up in my arms. "Natasha, I have to." I said and she looked on the verge of disagreeing "I can always get Wanda to lower the jet from the inside." I added in a threatening tone. Natasha looked at me and then marched up the wheel. "You get that kid help or I swear to god Maximoff-" I heard her voice catch and understood. She couldn't lose Blake anymore than the rest of us could.

The jet lowered and the hanger doors opened. I glanced back at Wanda "Let them know we're coming." I said tightening my grip on Blake and sped off.

We made it back to base in less than five minutes. I felt like my sides were going to split open with agony and my arms shook violently. A few times I'd heard her breathing stop and my heart did the same. Each time she started again it was quieter than before.

I stumbled into the medical ward and placed her onto a bed. Doctors seemed to surge from every door and push me aside. "You can't stay here." one said and started to pull me from the room. I wrenched arm back and gave him a dangerous look.

"Get off me." he made another attempt to make me leave and I was ready to fight him when Clint burst into the room. He came to a halt when he saw Blake.

"Oh god. What's happening?" he said rushing to my side. The doctor dismissed us and joined the group flocking around her bed.

"Hydra, they had her family. Her sister, she..she saved her. There was an explosion." Blake let out a strangled scream as the doctors moved to examine her head. I cringed feeling like I was going to either fall apart or lose my mind and Clint gripped my shoulder tightly. It did little to help but I knew I wasn't alone.

"She's strong, she'll get through this." he said

Just then I heard the worst sound in the world. The heart monitor flat lining.

I slummed forward putting my head in my hands and Clint held me up. "Come on kid you can do this." he murmured over my head whether to me or Blake I didn't know.

I pushed my fingers to my temples and presses hard to stop myself springing up. The silence seemed to stretch on and I thought it would never end. What would I do if it never started again? I remembered the grief of losing my parents, I couldn't go through that again, not without her. I heard a small beep and my head shot up. It came again and laughed out loud with relief.

The doctors fumbled around and got back to work. After a tense ten minutes they seemed to have stabilized her. Clint shook my shoulders.

"What did I say, she's a fighter."

"Can I see her?" I asked the same doctor I'd nearly knocked out. He looked me over seeming to get I wasn't in the fighting mood at the moment and nodded.

I walked over and fell down into the small chair next to her bed. A large bandage covered the side of her forehead and tubes were hooked up to her wrist. I slipped my fingers into hers and rested my head on her arm. Her skin was cooler than it should have been. I could feel the rhythmic pump of her heart under my touch and didn't think I'd ever hear anything more perfect.

"You promised." I said quietly lifting my head to look at her "I won't leave if you don't, remember?" I didn't know what I expected. Her eyes stayed closed and the only movement was the steady rise and fall of her chest. I reached up and brushed her fringe from her eyes. How could she still be this beautiful, she looked so peaceful, almost like she was sleeping. There was something missing though and the constant fight she had seemed to have disappeared.

"Maximoff?" I turned to see a doctor standing next to me. She looked down at me with pity. I wished she wouldn't. "I have to tell you she is stable at the moment but that could change, perhaps contact her family?"

"They already know" I said sternly wanting her to leave

"We spotted some damage to her head, we won't know the full extent until..well if she wakes up." I nodded but she still wouldn't leave "You should know that if you'd got her here any later, she'd be dead." she said finally before walking off down the ward. Was that suppose to make me feel better? It did a shit job.

Clint strolled up to the doors as Wanda and Natasha came running in. I saw him gesture to the bed and back to me. Their faces fell and I caught Wanda's eye from across the room. She came to stand behind me and took my free hand.

"You got her home." she said looking at Blake with tears in her eyes. I glanced over at Barton and Natasha. They finished talking and she stalked out of the room.

"Nat! Where are you going?" he yelled after her

"To make those sons of a bitches talk." she said as the doors swung shut behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

**_PIETRO_**

I sat there for the rest of the day watching doctors come in and out of the ward. Mostly they were checking on her machines, heart rate and vitals. Nothing seemed to change though. I didn't let go of her hand the entire time. I wanted her to know I was there, even if she couldn't hear me. The time seemed to snail by, it was infuriating to sit and do nothing but I couldn't bring myself to leave her. Wanda came down the ward as the doctors were leaving for the night.

"You've been here all day." she said squeezing my shoulder "Go and get some rest. I'll stay with her." I felt like saying I wouldn't leave, that I would stay here until she woke up..if she woke up. But I was ready to drop, I'd be no use if I couldn't even stand.

"Alright, but before I go, can you try something?" I asked. She looked at me confused "Get in her head, just to see. Please."

"Pietro I don't know what use it would be, she's still unconscious." she said looking down at me. I met her gaze with a defiant look.

"Just try." she walked round to the other side of the bed and placed her hand on the side of Blake's temple. I watched her eyes glow for a moment while she concentrated, but after nothing happened she gave me a sad look.

"I can't read her."

"What do you mean?" I asked panicked, she could always read people, whether they liked it or not.

"Its fuzzy, I can't break through. Pietro-"

"Don't." I said holding up my hand "You tried."

"It's probably the morphine." she said in a last attempt to make me feel better. I knew it wasn't. She couldn't break through because Blake just wasn't there right now. A doctor sidled into the room holding a clipboard and began turning off the lights around the unoccupied beds.

Wanda moved back to my side and pulled me from my seat. My muscles ached from sitting so long and after the run back to the base. The doctor came to stand at the end of the bed and pulled out Blake's notes. A puzzled look came over her face and she looked at me.

"How much blood did they say she lost?" she asked me. I tried to remember but Wanda answered before I could.

"Over two pints. There was a lot at the scene."

"This doesn't add up." said the doctor in a quiet voice "She lost over two pints and yet her injuries should only account for two." she finished in a confused tone. After a moment she shook her head. "I'm probably wrong but we'll check it out in the morning. It's going to be a long night."

"I'll stay with her." said Wanda again to the doctor. She nodded and made to leave but turned round again.

"Oh Miss Maximoff, if _anything_ changes you hit that buzzer there immediately. We need to monitor everything because if she doesn't wake up soon" she paused and looked down at her board "Well the odds aren't looking good. I'm so sorry." she walked out of the room letting the door swing shut.

"She shouldn't have had to go through that." I said holding the side of Blake's bed barely aware of what I was saying.

"Through what?" Wanda asked me looking worried

"What we had to." I said glancing over at her, she understood. That haunted look came into her eyes and I knew she was remembering the day our house was blown apart. For two days we were trapped, not knowing if anyone was even trying to get us out, slowly suffocating under layers of rubble.

Wanda got up and hugged me tightly. I looked over her head at Blake laying motionless on the bed and noticed the way her long hair was spread across the pillow, cascading down onto her shoulders. That was one of the striking things I'd noticed about her when we first met, the way it moved as she whipped round to face another opponent. Her deep brown hair and brilliant green eyes made her stand out in any crowd, I wished she would open them now, even move a finger, just something to show she was still in there.

Wanda released me and looked down at my hands which were still covered in Blake's blood. "You should get cleaned up." she said pointing to my hair as well, I knew I'd ran my fingers through it so it likely had red stains among the white. I nodded and let her hands go.

"Let me know if anything happens" I said before dashing out of the room.

It was so late that I didn't see anyone in the halls. I went straight to our room slamming the door behind me and grabbed a bottle from under the bed. I took a few deep gulps and cringed. It tasted like crap, but I drank more anyway. In the mirror across the room I caught sight of my reflection, I did have dried blood in my hair, on my hands, face, and my sleeves were cakes in it too. I grabbed my jacket and yanked it off throwing it aside like it was diseased.

Half a bottle later I slumped onto the bed and looked round the room. How ironic it was that just this morning everything had been fine, just like every other day. Now the woman I loved was in supposed coma and no one would tell me if she was ever going to wake up again!

I threw the bottle across the room as hard as I could and it shattered against the wall next to the dresser. Something wobbled off the top of it and feel onto the floor. I put my head in my hands and felt my fists shake with anger. I remembered the hydra agents we took from the base, they were just floors below my feet. I jumped up feeling like my whole body was vibrating with fury. Right about now I should be feeling her hands on my face, trying to calm me down. But no such help came. Walking towards the door again I felt something connect with my foot and looked down.

It was the photo I'd knocked off the dresser. It was surrounded by broken shards of bottle and amber liquid. I picked it up and brushed off the glass. The photo was of me, Wanda, Barton and Blake. She had her arms around Wanda and Clint and was laughing at something he'd said. I stood next to them grinning down at my sister. It should have made me happy to see us like that but it only made me madder.

My hand shook and I placed it down on the dresser again so I didn't break it. I wrenched open the door and ran for the elevator. I didn't even make it there before I ran smack into a wall and stumbled over, I caught myself on a rail and held myself up. What was happening? I tried again and fell over. I managed to push myself up and connected my fists with the closest wall. It didn't hurt as much as I'd thought. Then how could it, right now the only thing that could cause me pain was laying in a hospital bed.

I made it down to the lower levels by sheer force and sped around until Natasha came into view.

"Pietro. What's are you doing down here? Wait, is she OK?" she said stepping up to me and taking in my dissevered appearance.

"Did you get them to talk?" I asked ignoring the question

"Not yet, they're tough basterds this time. But I'll get through." she said giving me a calculating stare "What's wrong with you?"

"Where are they?" I said pushing past her and looking down the hall

"Oh my god Maximoff are you drunk?" she caught up to me and grabbed my arm spinning me round.

"I don't know." I said trying to focus "Let me in to see those agents." I tried to move forward but she put her hand on my chest and looked up at me.

"Hey I get that this is a tough time, we're all feeling it but this is not the way to deal." I gritted my teeth and looked down at her

"Romanoff, this is all I can do right now. Let me pass."

"You're a better man than this." she said gesturing at me "Why would you do this?"

"I just want my girlfriend back." I yelled at her. A door opened halfway down the hall and Steve stepped out.

"What's going on?" he asked walking towards us

"None of your concern Rogers."

"Big shot here is hammered." said Natasha stepping back. Steve gave me a grim look.

"She right?"

"No, I just can't see straight."

"You're not kidding. You think about her once in this?" said Natasha looking pissed.

"Romanoff you wanna go check on the prisoners." said Steve pointedly as I stepped forward clenching my fists. She glared at me and walked away.

I turned round and shoved my hands in my pockets and leaned against the wall. My head was aching but it wasn't just from the alcohol or running into things.

"Are you going to yell at me too? Heads up Rogers, I'm not in the mood." I said looking over at Steve. He stood opposite me and crossed his arms.

"No. I just wanted to say I understand what you're going through." I glared up at him but saw sadness in his eyes. I felt bad and relaxed my gaze. He sighed and spoke again "Her name was Peggy. We were in the army together back in the day."

"What happened?" I asked. He chuckled half heartedly.

"Long story. Let's just say I should have spent time with her when I had it." I kept quiet. He looked like he was somewhere else completely. Then he looked up at me "You two, you had time, you lived and fought side by side. That's more than some get. Whatever happens you can get through this. You're not alone you know, you have us. But listen, if she wakes up, don't waste a second." he said clapping me on the back and looking me over "Might wanna get some air kid, walk it off." He started to leave.

"Hey Rogers" I shouted back to him "I'm sorry." he nodded and disappeared into a side room.

I let my head fall back against the wall and thought about what to do now. I couldn't go back to the ward, Wanda would kill me. I returned to our room and fell onto the bed fully clothed. I was asleep within minutes.

The shrill sound of a phone woke me hours later and I sat up quickly. I grabbed it from the side and saw the internal call sign.

"Hello?"

"Pietro?" It was Wanda. I jumped to my feet and shoved on my trainers.

"Yeah I'm coming, what happened? Is she-"

"Get down here now." she said and hung up. I couldn't tell from her voice but I knew it had to be bad. Panic started to creep back into my chest as I pulled the door open and sprinted to the medical ward. I didn't hit a thing on the way so I thought the alcohol must have cleared my body. I burst through the doors and saw doctors clustered around her bed. I started forward and met Wanda's gaze. She was stood at the head of the bed and her eyes were bright and alert. I didn't understand, she didn't look upset or angry. Nothing was flying around the room and she seemed fairly calm, if not a bit shocked.

I pushed past the doctors as they moved away and came to a stop.

"Hey stranger." said Blake in a weak voice.

She was awake. I fell into the chair next to her and grabbed her hand, there was a definite pulse beating there. Her eyes were brighter than I remembered and her skin was still very pale but a faint rosy hue was returning to her cheeks as she grinned at me. "I miss anything fun?"

I heard Wanda laugh and let out a breath I didn't realise I'd been holding in. Her hand found my face.

"You look like crap." she said running her hand through my hair

"I know." I laughed and leant into her hand to fell the warmth of her skin against mine. "Please. Don't ever. Do that. Ever again." I said pressing my lips to her forehead lightly "You scared the life out of us." she smiled and rested her head back on her pillows.

"Are you alright?" asked Wanda taking her other hand

"Uh huh" she said nodding her head and wincing "Ow jeez why does my head hurt?" I looked at her in confusion.

"You hit it pretty bad. Don't you remember?"

"No. I don't wait-" she sat up so fast she ripped out the IV and the doctors came running again. Wanda waved them away "-Bennett, did you get her out? Is she ok?" she said trying to get up

"Wow Blake you need to lay back down, she's absolutely fine. She with your parents." I said pushing her shoulders back down so she lay on the pillows again. She relaxed and took my hand so tight it hurt.

"Thank you." I cupped her hand in both of mine and held it close to my face.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't get you out in time." She shook her head with bright eyes and winced again.

"Hey stop, you brought me back here. You saved Bennett, don't you dare beat yourself up because you did the right thing."

I smiled half-heartedly knowing that no matter what she said would make me feel better about what I'd done. One of the doctors pushed their way back to the bed and smiled at us. "How are we doing?"

"Pretty crappy but alive." she said and squeezed my hand. She looked confused then as the doctor picked up her file. "Something wrong?"

He looked uncomfortable "Maybe. There's no immediate trauma to the skull but your night doctor tells me we got the report back from the scene and your blood loss doesn't add up. It could be our mistake but it's around half a pint we can't account for."

"What does that mean?" asked Wanda

"Well it means you either bled out a lot faster than you should have or-"

"Someone stole my blood." she said like she'd already worked it out. The doctor looked like he was sure it was a mistake. I glanced back at Blake, there was a distant look on her face. "Chris." she said quietly so only me and Wanda could hear. I didn't know who that was.

"Can you remember what happened before you got here?" asked the doctor

"No not really but I...I can go back."

"Pardon?" asked the doctor looking seriously confused

"I can use my Recollection to go back. Find out what happened."

I shook my head "If you do that you risk making this worse." I said pointing to the bandage on her head "I won't lose you again." she smiled at me sadly

"If I don't, I could be leaving Hydra with vials of enhanced blood. You know what they'll do with it." I nodded grudgingly. I knew she was right but I hated that this was the only option.

She sat up slightly and directed her words at the doctor. "If I do this, these two are not leaving my side." The doctor wanted to argue but from the looks on all three of our faces he knew he'd never win.


	5. Chapter 5

**_BLAKE_**

I decided to not to do it straight away, I still felt seriously ill and needed to rest. People stopped by throughout the day to see me. They reassured me I'd be out soon with hugs and kind words though I hoped I didn't have to stay here long, I wanted my own bed and my own clothes.

Pietro stayed with me for hours. I kept telling him he could go but he wouldn't leave my side. Even through his sarcastic remarks and joking I could tell he was really shaken up because he reacted to every slight movement I made. I hadn't seen him truly frightened since I'd met him, well at least until the last few days. I didn't like having that effect on someone and it didn't seem right on him. When I told him to leave me and run my sister out of harm's way he'd looked on the verge of tears, if it had been me in his place with Wanda in my charge I don't know if I could been strong enough that call and leave him.

The first time I got up I realised my ankle was badly injured, since I was in bed it didn't hurt so much but I'd tried to stand on it a few times and nearly fallen over. They'd shown me the fragment they pulled out of my foot and it had made my stomach turn. My head wound didn't hurt so much as make my brain foggy, sometimes I found it hard to focus and felt my thoughts slip in and out. No doubt being struck on the head and having lost so much blood hadn't helped my predicament.

The doctors came by around lunch and pushed a tray of food onto my table. Pietro got up and perched next to me on the bed.

"Mmm nice." he said prodding the food. It didn't look appetising at all, just a boring sandwich and jello.

"You want it? " I said pushing it towards him and he wrinkled his nose.

"I've got better taste than that." he said kissing the top of my head "I'll be right back."

"And where are you going Mr?" I asked confused since he'd refused to leave my side all day

"To get you something that won't taste like cardboard." he said getting up to leave.

"I knew I kept you around for some reason."

"Very funny." Pietro turned just before he reached the door "Love you." he said giving me a small wink. My stomach flipped, it got me every time.

"What was that?"

He was by my side in an instant. "You heard me" he said grinning and leaning down to press his lips roughly against mine. A second later he was gone. I wished he wouldn't do that it caught me off guard so much I had to catch my breath for a moment. Though I guess I didn't really mind.

I leant back on my pillows and let out a huge sigh. Even though I felt like I'd been hit by a truck I still had bundles of energy which I was wasting it sat in bed. I swung my legs off the edge and winced as my ankle hit the railing. It wasn't that far to the bedside chair so I lowered myself onto it trying to avoid touching my right ankle to the floor.

My t-shirt was crumpled but at least clean, Wanda had brought me a change of clothes earlier. I pushed the sleeves up to my elbows and noticed a faint purple bruise in the crook of arm, but wasn't like a bump or a graze. It was like a puncture wound. Someone had recently inserted a needle into my arm, and I knew none of the doctors had in that particular spot since my IV's had gone into my hand. Trying to keep calm I gripped the chair arms and tried to focus.

Chris's face loomed in front on my vision and I wondered how the hell he could have lived and taken that much of my blood. I was tempted to find out right now but it would be stupid of me to do it without people around, I'd only be endangering myself more.

The doors banged open and Pietro sauntered back into the room his arms full of snacks. "What did you raid the whole kitchen?" I said laughing as he dumped it all onto my bed

"Only on this floor." he replied and sat on the bed dangling one leg over the side and stretching the other out down the length of the mattress. He offered me a hand to pull myself up and I slipped back onto the bed leaning my back against his chest. I grabbed a few packets and passed one to him over my head.

"I can't wait to get out of here, its driving me insane." I said throwing a crisp into my mouth and staring round at the mundane ward. Everything was the same dull grey as if all colour had been sucked from the room.

"You'll be out in a few days. What do you want to do first?" he asked smirking at me.

"I can think of a few things." I replied as he free hand ran down my thigh

He'd just leaned down when the phone rang. "Perfect timing." I groaned as reached over and grabbed my cell.

"Hello?" I turned my head back to look at him. A moment later he met my gaze holding his hand over the mouthpiece.

"It's your parents."

"Put it on speaker"

"Blake, sweetie are you there?" It was my Mom and she sounded worried. I could hear Bennett's voice nagging in the background

"Yeah Mom, it's me."

She sighed loudly "Oh thank god your alright. We thought the worst. No Bennett in a minute, yes it's her. Sorry honey I'm back. Who answered the phone? I didn't recognise the accent."

I smiled at Pietro awkwardly like I'd been caught out doing something I shouldn't, because technically I hadn't told my parents about us yet. Not that I didn't want to it was just life on base rarely left the confines of its walls. It was a habit you got into working for Shield and being an Avenger.

"That was Pietro, he's-"

"The young man who saved your sister?" finished my Mom before I could get the words out. I heard Bennett giggle in the background, clearly Pietro had a fan.

"Yes that's him."

"Tell him thank you won't you?"

"Mom you're on speaker, we can both hear you." I laughed

"Oh, sorry. Wait your Dad wants a word." There was a pause and a crackle at the other end then my Dads voice spoke up

"How's my girl doing? You're not hurt are you?"

"I'll live, all patched up." I said not wanting to elaborate

"Well, what did the doctors say?" he asked pushing for more information

I groaned "Everything's fine Dad, it was just a close call that's all. Pietro got me back in time, I'll be ok."

"What did I say, that's my lucky clover always beating the odds." He chuckled and I glanced at Pietro.

"Clover?" he mouthed at me silently with an amused grin on his face. Great more teasing ammunition he didn't need. I waved it away embarrassed.

My Dad had been calling me that every since I was little, it was kind of a long story. Let's just say when I was born they didn't expect me to live this long, or even through the night. He stayed with me the whole time keeping an eye on me until I got better. Clearly I made it through alright and with my bright green eyes Dad had decided it was a fitting name.

"Thanks Dad, look I've gotta go soon but is Ben there? I wanna talk to her." I heard him pass the phone over and say a quick goodbye, then my sister began jabbering at the other end before I could even get a word in. I let her ramble for a while amused by the grin on Pietro's face.

"-so I'm glad you're not dead. Also when you come home I painted your room bright yellow. Oh and I borrowed your shoes but I can't find them. Is that tall guy your boyfriend? Ha there's a cat chasing a bird outside. EW! It ate it. I saw you on the TV and my friends-" I cut her off before she could run out of air.

"Wow breath Ben, jeez you could talk for a living. Yeah I'm fine. Why did you paint my room you know I hate yellow. Oh if you lost the shoes I think you lost then you have to re-paint the _entire_ house. Just saying." I loved my sister so much but she was as impulsive as me and my Dad, always acting without thinking. Pietro took a drink of water from my glass and coughed. Bennett heard and piped up again.

"Who was that?"

"It's just Pietro, back to my room."

"So he is your boyfriend!" she yelled excitedly down the phone and I held it at arm's length. My Mom yelled equally as loud telling her not to shout. She apologised and came back to the phone. "Hey Pietro" she said and he looked up at the sound of his name "Sorry I screamed in your ear yesterday." she continued in a quieter tone "Thanks for helping my sister, she's super annoying but-" she sniffed and trailed off.

He looked surprised she was talking to him but shifted so he could hear better and picked up the phone "Bennett? It's alright, everything's fine. And your sister... she's doing great." I could see the hurt of the lie in his face as he tried to reassure her. She coughed and spoke up.

"Good. And I was gonna say if you're ever an idiot to her I'll get really mad, like go completely red and everything." I started to laugh at the astonished look on his face.

"What can I say, she takes after me."

"I can see that." he said "I'll can't promise anything Bennett but I'll try not to be an idiot."

"Right" she said "But it's OK if you slip up a bit, she's an idiot too."

"Hey you little-"

"Gotta go bye!" The line went dead before I could continue and Pietro put the phone back on the side chuckling. I shuffled round and rested my head on his shoulder.

"What do you think the odds are my parents know about us now?" I said and he looked at me with raised eyebrows. "Yeah, they know don't they." I sighed and pulled the bedding up over my legs and chest. He wrapped his arms round me so I felt like falling asleep but he shook me slightly.

"Hey you no nodding off. Doctors orders." I blinked a few times and sat up, his face fell and paused to look at my hands."You know, you don't have to do this" he said and I heard a note of uncertainly in his voice.

I knew what he was referring to, I'd wondered how long I could put off this conversation "What kind of agent would I be if I let Hydra get away with more human experimentation?"

"A live one." he said painfully

"Hey" I twisted round and put my hand round his neck "I told you I'm not going anywhere."

"You didn't see how bad it was Blake, we thought you were dead. You almost _died_ in my arms." I took in a deep breath knowing how that would have felt. After my nightmares of his death I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

"Its harsh but there's going to be dangers and consequences in everything we do. I'll get hurt, so will you. You got me help this time but it won't always be like that. It can't stop us from doing our job."

"Doesn't mean we have to like it." he said seriously

"If it's any consolation, I hate it. I wish I'd never got this ability, but if it helps us find Chris, I don't really have a choice."

He gave me a strange look, one I'd never seen before "Who is Chris?" he asked and my face dropped

"I barely know anymore. We were..friends when we were kids. It's been years, I didn't even recognise him. He's...changed." I said in a cold voice.

"He must have been close to you if he has this much effect on you" he said gesturing to me

"It's not important Pietro, drop it." I didn't want to talk about it, least of all with him.

"Clearly it is." He said giving me a stony look

"We dated a few times that's all."

"Right, that's all." he said leaning back on the pillows.

"What's wrong?" I asked confused. We didn't fight often anymore; never really, but this seemed like it was on the way to an argument "Why are you so wound up?"

I saw him grit his teeth slightly "Seems like your judgement just goes out the window when this guy is involved."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked getting annoyed

"I mean you nearly blew yourself up to stop him, and now you're ready to die to bring him down."

"Don't be so dramatic. I'm not going to die." I said and he raised his eyebrows at me "I just know what I need to do." I almost shouted "I have a duty to my team-"

"Duty? What about your family? What about me and Wanda?" That stopped me. Didn't he know I thought about them in everything I did.

"You _are_ my family-"

"Blake, I'm the last person to tell you to slow down but I'm talking about your life here, make sure this is the right thing to do."

"It is."

He ran his hands through his hair frustrated and I thought he was going to get up and leave but he just placed them on my face and looked into my eyes. "Maybe it is, but it is not worth risking your life over. Please don't do this." I had a retort ready but it faltered as I looked at him.

"I have to stop him." I said simply and he released my face

"Why? Why is it _your_ responsibility?"

"Because he targeted me and my family. You don't think given the right opportunity he won't do it again? This place is our home, I have to protect it. Hydra is everything that's wrong with the world and it has to stop!"

My head throbbed again and I steadied myself on the bed but before I could fall forwards, he grabbed me hard and pulled me into a hug. "When are you going to stop being so heroic?" he muttered into my hair and I smiled

"That's my line." I said pulling back. He gave me a half amused half sad smile and I reached up to push the hair back from his face. "Don't worry so much, you'll get wrinkles."

"Me? Never." he grinned

Wanda opened the door at the end of the ward and let the doctor in before her. She followed him to my bed and came and perched on the edge of the chair next to us.

"You all set?" she asked and I nodded before I met Pietro's gaze. He still looked like he wanted to disagree and run me out of there the first chance he got but I knew he wouldn't. The stakes were too high. My safety verses every positional causality Hydra had lined up, there was no match.

Wanda spoke again "Is it alright if I come with you?" I looked confused "I mean in your head, maybe I can help."

I smiled down at her and nodded again "Thanks."

The doctor fiddled with a few dials on my monitor then stood at the end of my bed holding a note pad. I kind of wished he'd leave but that wouldn't fly, not here. I took a seat next to Pietro with my legs swung over the bed. I grabbed his hand and held it in both of mine taking comfort in the familiar motion, at least I had him to steady me. Wanda stood up in front of me and placed her hands either side of my temples. "When you're ready." she said giving me a small smile.

I shook my shoulders and stared straight ahead. "Here goes nothing."

I felt the pull in the back of my skull and opened my eyes. There was dust everywhere, it filled the air and my lungs making it impossible to see more than a few feet. It was really hot, I could hear faint crackling in the far room and sensed a fire. Panicking I made to get up, at once pain shot down my leg and I fell back to the ground. My head stung but not as bad as I'd thought. I heard something shift to my left and reached for my gun but it wasn't there. Parts of the ceiling were still coming down but I was trapped under too much debris to move.

Suddenly someone moved in the corner of my eye and something slam into my head. I screamed out loud and he clapped his hand over my mouth "That was for my arm you ungrateful bitch." said Chris looming over me.

I heard Pietro yell my name from far away but I couldn't focus to respond. Hot liquid was dripping into my mouth and I spat it out trying to move away. He grabbed my leg and dug his nails into my ankle making my want to throw up. "You're not going anywhere until I get what I came for." Chris inserted something sharp into my arm and I tried to pull it back.

"If you stop struggling I'll stop this." he said and smashed the rock into my head again. My vision went black for a second as I lost consciousness. I tried to keep my eyes open but I was getting so tired. "Oops my bad you might be losing too much blood. I'm sure you'll be fine."

I could hear Wanda's voice calling to me but I couldn't call back. "The boss will be so glad I got your blood out of all the rest. It would have been so much easier to take you back to Sanctuary whole, but we could never get near you. Someone might notice if an Avenger suddenly went missing." His voice was getting quieter as Wanda's got louder "It was nice catching up, but I gotta run." I heard him struggle to his feet. The last thing I felt was a sharp pain in my side as he stepped over me on the way to the door.

I slipped into blackness and could hear the woman's voice again "Wake up! Come on Blake open your eyes!"

A faint pressure on my hand began to get tighter and tighter and I snapped my eyes open to find Pietro's fingers digging into my hand. I slouched back against him as a hot sticky substance drip onto my cheek and into my mouth. He lifted my head up as the doctor pushed his way in.

"She's fine. She only re-opened the cut." he sighed as he assessed the damage

"Told you." I said and fell against Wanda as she stepped forward to hug me. She gave me a worried look and tried to coax me down onto the bed.

"No no wait, I can't sleep." I said shaking my head and another drop of blood landed on my lip. Pietro grabbed a cloth from the side and held it to my forehead.

"Blake please lay down." he pleaded. I laughed and then felt confused as to why I'd done it, maybe I had lost a bit too much blood.

Pietro got to his feet and crouched down in front of me putting his hands on my shoulders to keep me upright "What did you see?" I tried to think, mostly I remembered pain. But some detail came back to me and I grabbed his hand again.

"Pietro, I know where he is."


	6. Chapter 6

**_PIETRO_**

I saw the utter certainty in Blake's eyes and knew she was on to something. She took in a deep breath.

"Chris mentioned taking me back to Sanctuary to see the 'Boss'. If it's the same place, I know exactly where it is. But I don't understand...it can't be Hydra." she said shaking her head

"Why not?" asked Wanda taking a seat next to the bed "Didn't you say that was who he was working for?"

"Yeah, I mean he is I think. But the place; Sanctuary. It wasn't supposed have anything to do with Hydra. That was where we met, me and Chris. It was a school outside of Long Island, for kids with enhanced abilities. We didn't know what we were or where we fit in until they found us. I practically grew up there." she said looking reminiscent "But it was a good place, they helped us."

"Obviously something changed." I said getting to my feet.

She looked up at me "Chris might be scum but there were people there who needed that place, I can't image what they'd do if Hydra got hold of the school. Some of the kids, well they didn't really get wrong from right. Without the right teachers..." she trailed off

"We'll figure this out." I said wrapping my arms round her. She leaned into me and I felt the silkiness of her hair slide over my hands.

"If I'd just finished the job. I had him right there." she muttered into my shirt

"If you done it any other way you might be dead so stop it." said Wanda "You said the school was for enhanced. Does that mean Chris is as well?"

Blake pulled away from me and raked her hand through her hair "Kind of, we could never really tell for sure. We never had specific powered people like Wanda around to test the theory but they thought his thing was Enclosed Theta Manipulation, it's kind of the opposite of what you have." she said gesturing at my sister "Which means you won't be able to get in his head."

I looked over at Wanda, we'd never come across anyone with abilities like hers. She looked frightened but stuck out her chin "I'll handle it when it comes."

I knew she would but this was way outside our comfort zone. Something occurred to me then. "If he's enhanced. Why aren't they using him for their experiments?"

"I doubt he's told them. Like I said even we didn't know for sure. Some peoples powers didn't work on him, telekinesis that kind of thing. He wasn't the same as the rest of us." she said grimacing "I think that's why he joined that group, to feel part of something bigger."

"Hydra might not have been the best way to go." said a voice behind us. We turned and saw Steve standing there. "What do you know about this 'Boss?'" I looked at him sideways hoping he wasn't going to mention my drunken outburst from last night.

"Not much." said Blake rising to her feet. She pulled on my shoulder to steady herself and looked at Steve "There was this one guys at the school. Him and Chris were pretty close, used to refer to him as 'the boss' because he was so much older than us. He was in the last year when I left. He started filling Chris's head with crazy ideas, wanted to start a team of enhanced to go on raids with him. I thought it was just talk until he roped a few kids into breaking into a vault to steal money." she clenched her fists and I saw her shoulders rise and fall heavily as she carried on "Safe to say I wasn't ok with that. Chris got mad that I wouldn't help, I broke up with him and left. I dunno if it's the same guy but it would make a hell of a lot of sense if it was."

"You think you could ID him?" said Steve

"Oh yeah. Give me a sec I'll get you the coordinates." said Blake limping over to her bed and grabbing her phone. She typed out an address and threw the phone to me. I caught it and handed it to Steve. "It's at the centre of the compound. If it still has the same security they'll see us before we get within half a mile."

"We?" Steve asked her perplexed and she nodded looking just as confused "No offense Blake but you can't come."

"What?" she said loudly making her way back to us "But I can help."

Steve seemed torn, I could tell he didn't want to argue with her but he had other people to think of. I almost spoke up but stopped myself. I'd rather let Rogers get the brunt of it before I got involved.

"Not like that you can't" he said pointing to her leg. She shrugged and let go of the bed's railing putting her whole weight on her feet. I twitched wanting to grab her as I saw her face tighten but she didn't make any sound to say she was in pain.

"I have to be there. This is my fight too." she said defiantly but he shook his head.

"I'm not saying it isn't but I've made my mind up. I'm sorry." he said and turned to me and Wanda "I need you two on this, are you ready to go?"

I let out a short laugh. Did he expect me to get up and leave after everything that had just happened. He looked at Blake apologetically and she turned away, I could see Wanda looked like she wanted to say something comforting but stopped herself.

I understood why she had to go, but I didn't. Steve had been the one to tell me not to waste a second with Blake in the first place and given the fact she'd only just woke up I wasn't about to leave just because he asked politely. I sat down on the bed and reached for some food. "Take someone else, I'll stay here."

"Pietro-" said Wanda getting to her feet

"Roger's has plenty of backups. I'm sure you can get by without me for one day." Wanda gave me a long look and smiled very, very slightly.

"Alright." she said walking towards the door.

Steve sighed "I guess I'll call Romanoff then. Were leaving in a hour if you change your mind." Then he followed Wanda out still holding Blake's phone.

The moment they had left I heard Blake catch hold of the railing again and curse. I moved to her side and placed my hands on her waist.

"You shouldn't have done that." she said staring up at me "It'll come round and bite you in the ass."

"You think I care?" she smiled at me and shifted her weight "You should get off your feet." I said and she moved her hands down my chest making me shiver. Her touch was cool on my heated skin. It was always this way, I was too warm and hot-headed, and she was the cool and collected one. Her touch didn't always put me in a relaxing mood though. I looked down at her and felt the need to be a lot closer than we were now. Before she could move I picked her up in my arms and carried her to the bed.

"I'm pretty sure that's frowned upon in here." she said laughing as I laid her on the mattress.

I grinned down at her "You were saying something about getting out of here?"

"God yes." she said reaching up and wrapping her arms round my neck. I looked round but there was no one here. How long would it take them to notice we'd gone. Maybe an hour or two? It didn't matter we'd be out of here before they could even blink. I grabbed her and sped out of the room.

A few moments later I stopped outside our door and she pushed it open. I gently set her down on her feet and closed it. Then I heard her laugh and turned. I didn't have time to react as her lips crushed against mine pushing me back into the wood. I grabbed her waist and let her fall against me so she could keep one leg off the ground. It was funny how something like nearly watching her die had made everything about her more intense. Her energy, her smile, every inch of her body felt more alive.

We broke apart and I stared down at her "God you are so beautiful." I said caressing her face. She grinned up at me through her long eyelashes

"Vy dumayete, chto ya krasivaya?" she said raising an eyebrow and I laughed

"Where in the hell did you learn that?" I asked bewildered. It was the first time I'd ever heard her say something in my native language. The words rolled off her tongue so effortlessly I wondered why she hadn't started sooner.

"I've picked up things from Nat along the way. Gotta keep you on your toes."

"Well whatever it is don't stop." I said grabbing hold of her again

"But you sound like that all the time." she said laughing at my eagerness

"Yes but I'm used to it...on you though" I said running my hands over her skin

"Now you know how I feel." She said closing her eyes slightly. As she moved her body closer to mine she put most of her weight on her injured ankle and took in a sharp intake of breath. "You know I might need some help with this." she said pointing down at her foot.

I thought for a second then in one quick motion picked her up and pulled her thighs around my hips. She looked surprised as she stared down at me. I tilted my head to the side and gave her a mischievous grin. "Or I could always get you a chair-" she cut me off as she wrapped her hands in my hair and brought her mouth back to mine.

As her body pressed against me I held her as tightly as I could, her back arched inward as she gripped onto my shoulders. Luckily this kind of movement wasn't out of the ordinary for us so I was ready for anything. Anything but letting her go. Something at the back of my mind was telling me how fleeting life could be, even I couldn't outrun time. I'd been with women before, nothing ever lasted long usually because I got bored or due to the way I lived my life, it had never fitted in with relationships. But this woman, if I had all the time in the world it probably wouldn't be enough.

Next thing I knew we were on the bed and I was kissing her like I never had before, my breath came out ragged but I couldn't stop. She returned the enthusiasm and I felt the blood boil in my veins. This was what being consumed by fire had to feel like.

I pulled off my t-shirt and closed my eyes as her usually cool skin burned against mine. The hand that wasn't holding me up found the edge of her top and slowly eased it up over her head. I traced the curve of her waist with my thumb and could feel the toned muscles of her stomach under my touch. She chuckled against my mouth and hooked both her legs around me pulling me down to the mattress. I been doing my best to keep myself up with only one arm to stop my body crushing her, but I didn't have to worry about that because she just rolled over on top of me instead. My hands ran down the her spine feeling the dimples at the base of her back.

Blake's quick breath on my neck made me open my eyes. Her head was resting in the crook of my neck so her lips were right next to my ear. "I know you, something's wrong." she whispered and pulled back to look into my eyes. She took one of my hands from her back and laced her fingers with mine. "It's ok, you can tell me." she said leaning back down and giving me a quick kiss.

I let my breathing return to normal and resisted the urge to grab her again. How mad would she be if I didn't answer at all, I'd much rather carry on what we'd been doing but the look in her eyes told me I wasn't going to get away with that.

"I can't explain it." I replied honestly not knowing what else to say.

"Try." she said running her hand over my chest. I tried to focus on something else but was finding it very difficult, how was I supposed to concentrate when she was sat on top of me practically half naked.

"This" I said looking away and moving our entwined fingers "I've never had it before. I don't know what to expect. I'm used to being ten steps in front of everyone else. Now I feel like I'm trying to catch up, and I don't like that I can't." I'd let out a lot more words than I expected

"You don't have to be so quick all the time, it's ok to take things as they come." she said smiling "Try living like the rest of us for a change."

"It's not that." I said feeling like no matter what I said I couldn't make her understand. Steve's voice echoed in my head and I remembered his words about losing someone you loved. "It's you, I can't let you slip away." I said

Her smile faded slightly and I saw sadness in her eyes "You're trying to cram a whole life in before you've lived it. You can't do that Pietro, you'll never see the world." she took in a breath and carried on "We didn't fall for each other in a split second remember? Things like that take time; which we have."

I thought about that. When we'd first met I'd known we had chemistry but to begin with she'd thought I was arrogant and quick-tempered, and I'd thought she was too defensive and unpredictable. It didn't take long for me to realise it was all a front to protect herself, but the more I got to know her the more unsure I'd felt I could break those walls down. It turned out she was just as unsure of me because she thought I wasn't serious about her. After we realised that we were both being idiots all that went away, now I knew I'd never been so serious about anything in my life.

I sat up and rested my hand on her hot cheek "Yesterday I thought you'd run out of time. That's what I mean, this job we do, we could be here one second gone the next. I can't wake up one day without you and realise I wasted a single moment."

Her eyes grew very bright and she put her hands on either side of my neck smiling slightly. "I love you Pietro but the thing is, if we live our lives on fast forward, we'll get to the end a heck of a lot faster than we should."

I let my head drop, she had me there. Was that my only option? I didn't know how to do things slowly, I never had. I felt her fingers under my chin and lifted my face.

"What brought this on?" she asked me

I chuckled quietly "Besides the obvious." I said smoothing out the plaster on her head "I had a talk with Rogers."

She sighed knowingly "He told you about Peggy?" I nodded "You know, if neither of us gets frozen for seventy years I think we'll do just fine."

I laughed then "I'm not planning on it."

She pulled me back onto the sheets and I rolled over so I was looking down at her. "We are both wearing too many clothes."

"So true." she laughed and I kicked off my trainers. We heard a strange swishing noise behind us as they hit something. She poked her head round my arm and I saw slight shock on her face.

"There something you wanna tell me?" she said laughing nervously. I looked at her confused and turned round. Hanging on the wardrobe were two clear bags. One held a long green dress and the other a blue and grey suit.

"What the-" I said panicking slightly and pushing myself up.

She sat up as well and moved to the end of the bed opening the dress bag "It's beautiful" she said smiling and running her hand down the fabric

"I didn't-" I started not wanting her to get the wrong idea

"Oh calm down, there's a note." she grinned at me and pulled it off. I moved next to her and read it over her shoulder.

 _You and your team have been asked to attend a charity event with city leaders to discuss situations involving the Avengers. Since large amounts of property and infrastructure have been destroyed in the past by the team and other members, we would appreciate any effort to convince people that The Initiative is worth fighting for. Please find attached suitable attire._

 _Maria Hill_

"You have got to be kidding me." we said at the same time

"I'm pretty sure all I broke this year was someone's arm. Oh and a lab, and a few walls in the training room. But that's it." she said attaching the note back to the bag. I felt a guilty look cross my face and she gave me a suspicious stare "What did you do?"

"I'll tell you later." I said evasively. I was pretty sure I'd totalled a few S.W.A.T cars last month.

She kissed me on the cheek and got to her feet to examine the bags. After a quick look she pulled out a pair a tall black heels.

"Ha I don't think so." she placed them back in the bag and looked at my suit. I cringed.

"Hmm I've never seen you in a suit." she said looking it up and down

"That's because I've never worn one." I said looking back at it sceptically "I'm not wearing it."

She smiled back at me amused "I don't think you have a choice."

I rolled my eyes "Yours is not so bad." I said imagining the colour next to her soft skin and bright eyes "Hey wait, I've barely seen you in a dress either."

"That is so weird" she said chuckling "I wear them all the time." I detected a sarcastic hint in her voice and raised my eyebrows "Great so this is going to be severely uncomfortable for both of us."

I felt something vibrate in my pocket and pulled out my phone. It was Wanda, I took a moment to answer.

"Pietro?" she said in a very quiet voice

"Yes, why are you whispering?" I asked holding my hand to my ear so I could hear her better.

"Steve is in the next room with Natasha. Some agents found Chris a mile from the base." I looked up at Blake and she gave me a questioning look. "He was bled out pretty bad, passed out in the woods. Get Blake, I'll let you on the jet. We're going to get him now. I have to go." The line went dead.

"What is it?" asked Blake looking worried

"They found Chris a mile away from the Hydra base, he was unconscious in the woods."

Her face dropped and a saw fire blaze in her eyes "Where is he?"

"They're going to get him. If we leave now Wanda will let us on the jet." I'd barely finished talking when she began getting dressed again. I pulled on my shirt and looked back at the empty bed. She wasn't the only one who wanted to kill Chris now. She moved to my side and I pulled her up instinctively.

"We'll pick this up later." she said and pressed her lips against mine. I smiled and dashed out of the room. We made it to the jet just as the doors were closing. I saw Wanda force it open again with her magic and we slipped in. She held a finger to her lips and pointed to the cock pit. Natasha and Steve were sitting in the front taking softly. Blake moved to a chair and sat down. I pulled Wanda aside and saw her face was quite pale.

"What happened?" I asked quietly

"We got a call a few minutes ago saying they found Chris in a perimeter sweep before they left. He was bleeding all over." she paused and Blake grabbed her hand.

"Did he have the veils of my blood on him?" she asked and my eyes widened as I glanced at Wanda.

"No." she said shaking her head "And it looks like someone beat him half to death to take it."

 _(Vy dumayete, chto ya krasivaya?) = You think I'm beautiful? (Nod at Black Widow scene in Avengers)_


	7. Chapter 7

_**PIETRO**_

We slipped into a side room and kept quite so we didn't get thrown off the jet. Once we arrived there would be nothing either Natasha or Steve could do to send us back. Wanda walked to the front and kept their attention on her. I heard her asking Natasha about the agents she'd been interrogating, apparently they hadn't let anything slip yet. I turned to Blake and saw she was staring at the wall like it had just insulted her.

"You good?" I asked waving my hand in front of her face. She snapped her attention back and shook her head.

"I thought Chris having my blood was bad enough but this third party, why would they take it? How would they even know?" she leant her head back against the wall and closed her eyes "I'd like one day where absolutely nothing bad happens, just one."

"I don't think that's in the cards for us." I said sitting next to her and resting my chin on her head. She sighed heavily and start ringing her hands together but I folded my fingers around hers to stop her. "We'll get it out of him one way or another."

"I just want this to be over." she said moving her head so she could see me "I think we deserve a break."

I laughed quietly "Whenever and wherever you want."

We felt the jet dip slightly and knew we were moments away from landing. Blake grabbed a long pole from the wall and slipped off her jacket to wrap it round the top. I wondered what she was doing until she hitched it under her arm and pulled herself to her feet leaning onto it. She gave me a quick smile and made her way into the loading bay. I followed her in and Wanda moved to our side. There was a slight jolt and the jets engines died. Natasha turned round in her seat and stared at us. I saw Blake tense and I braced myself as Steve got to his feet.

"It was my idea." said Wanda stepping in front of us "I told them to come." Steve looked at us in a disapproving way. Blake turned to Natasha and opened her mouth to speak but she didn't get the words out.

"You know what, I don't even wanna know." said Natasha holding up her hands and I saw a twinkle of humour in her eyes. Steve turned to her disbelieving and she shrugged. "What you didn't expect that, come on Cap." She hit a button to her right and the ramp opened behind us. Wanda followed her outside as Steve came to a stop in front of us.

"This isn't going to work if you pull stunts like this all the time." he said looking between us.

"It won't happen again." said Blake pushing herself up on her crutch

Steve clapped her on the shoulder "I hope you're right." he said looking away and walking out of the jet.

"Phew. That could have gone a lot worse." she said taking my hand

"I don't think we've heard the last of it." I said thinking of her earlier 'bite you in the ass' comment. I was sure it would. I helped her down the ramp and we emerged in a clearing. The jet took up the entire space and I was impressed Natasha managed to land it in such a small area. Through the trees we could see agents milling around a white tent. Wanda beckoned to us and we walked over to it.

"He's stable now. You can go in." said one of the agents pointing inside. Blake looked both angry and nervous at the same time, I gave her a reassuring smile and pushed open the cover. Inside was a young man strapped to a chair, his hands bound with ties in front of him. He lifted his head as we entered and I could see how beat up he was, I almost felt bad for him until he smirked at Blake.

"Still alive I see." he said looking her up and down slowly. I shifted my shoulders agitatedly and gripped her hand tighter. "And this must be the boyfriend." he said nodding at me looking disappointed. I glared at him and resisted the urge to walk out. I noted that through all the swelling and bruises he was good looking, that didn't make me feel any better.

"What's it to you." I said in a cold voice clenching my jaw

He laughed then and smiled at me. I could feel Blake's arm trembling next to me as he spoke "I thought she was moving up in the world. But I guess if she's with you...well you can't have everything. Good thing you're fast Maximoff cos you don't really have much else going for you. And what the hell happened to your hair?" Blake's nails dug into my hand as it went ridged. Chris seemed to have noticed he'd hit a nerve because he continued with a smirk "Oh but Blake, how's your sister, I hope you didn't blow her up too."

I wanted to punch him to shut him up but before I could even move Blake had released my hand and driven her crutch into his throat. His eyes went wide with shock as he struggled to breath. A few of the agents came running forward but didn't dare interfere and I could see why, the look in her eyes could have scorched the entire forest. She didn't even seem to notice she was standing on her injured leg.

I could see her chest rise and fall rapidly as she looked daggers at him. "That wasn't very nice." she snarled pressing the pole harder into his wind pipe and he started to turn purple. She lowered her voice "I wouldn't piss me off, I've had a rough few days and I really need an outlet." she said in a dangerous tone. He tried to sputter out words but she didn't let him go, panic rose in my chest as I wondered if she might actually suffocate him. "What?" she asked leaning closer "Are you volunteering?" He tried to shake his head but I could see his eyes rolling back into his head becoming unfocused.

"Blake!" I shouted and she whipped round "You're killing him." Her eyes darted back to him and she saw what she'd done. In a second her tense shoulders dropped and she stumbled backwards letting her crutch fall to the floor. Chris coughed violently holding his throat.

"You crazy bitch!" he yelled the moment he had breath. Her nostrils flared and she moved forward again but I grabbed her and ran outside. I sped right past the jet and set her down. Even that hyped up on adrenaline she couldn't run back to the tent on her ankle.

She gripped my arms tightly steadying her breath and looked back across the clearing. I followed her gaze and saw Wanda, Natasha and Steve staring over at us. They didn't approach since neither of us seemed to be in immediate danger but I shook my head at Wanda anyway and turned back to Blake. The fury in her eyes sputtered out and she pulled me into a hug.

I stroked her hair feeling her rapid breathing against my chest. "What was all that about?" I asked as she moved back to rest against a tree.

Angry tears shone in her eyes and I wondered if I'd said the wrong thing. She pointed back at the tent "That _thing_ , that is not Chris. They did something to him or-" she trailed off and looked at me "The boy I knew was nothing like that."

Something clicked into place as I watched her face, something deep and painful seemed to be rising to the surface. She almost looked betrayed. I felt sick as I spoke again.

"You loved him didn't you?" I asked feeling ice drop into my stomach. I didn't want to ask that question and couldn't bear to hear the answer but the look she gave me said it all. She was quiet for a moment then put her head in her hands.

"We were kids, I don't know what I felt." she said

I crouched down next to her but she turned away from me. I hated that it all made so much sense now. I tried to think of what to say but nothing came to my mind. From the tent I heard the sound of Chris's strangled laugher float over to us. Something hot writhed in my chest as I thought of her with the man I'd just met. She'd said he wasn't like that before so there was more proof that Hydra turned even the best of people into monsters.

"You don't have to go back in there." I said sitting in front of her so she had to look at me. "We can handle it."

She dug her hands into the dirt around the tree and finally met my gaze. "I'm sorry, I just can't be in the same room as him. Everything he does makes me sick."

"You shouldn't have to." I said pulling her hands out of the ground and brushing the earth from her fingers. "It'll probably be easier for them if you're not there as well. They can ask difficult questions, things you might not want to hear."

She nodded and wrapped her fingers around mine "Don't let him get in your head, he's just trying to piss us off."

I smiled in an offhand way. "I won't." That was a lie. He'd already said something that was turning over in the back of my mind. _But I guess if she's with you...well you can't have everything._ That had always been one of my fears. That one day someone would turn around and remind her she could do so much better than me. On some level I agreed with him, my family was broken and I came from a place void of wealth and stability. I'd lived most of my life with only one other person who loved me so I found it hard to trust people. Blake had grown up the exact opposite, surrounded by family and always having a home to go back to. I must have let something show on my face because she gave me a concerned look.

"I know that face, what did he say?"

I got to my feet and pulled her up with me. "It doesn't matter." I said moving toward the jet "Are you alright to stay here while they question him?"

I felt her grab my arm and come to a stop in front of me. She raised an eyebrow at me and folded her arms "If you let him in, he wins. Don't give him the advantage." she said and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not, he didn't say anything I didn't know already." Her face fell and I started to walk away

"Pietro." The way she said my name made me stop and I turned to look at her. She was staring after me with such a pained expression on her face I couldn't help but walk back over to her. She caught her breath as she tried to speak and a tear slid down her cheek. I wiped it away knowing she really knew what was bothering me.

"I've tried to be the man you deserve." I said feeling the doubts I'd been pushing away for months rise to the surface "But I just can't."

"What do you mean?" she asked me placing her hand on my face

I shook it away impatiently "Come on Blake we both know there are people out there better for you. You shouldn't be with someone like me. You deserve more." I didn't mean to say that, it just came out. I felt like someone had punched me in the gut as she dropped her hand and stepped away looking hurt.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Blake I didn't mean-" I said trying to back track

"Then why did you say it?"

"I..." I couldn't think, I wanted to take it back but couldn't get the words out

"You don't wanna be with me is that it?" she asked turning her body away from me.

"What? No of course I do" I said grabbing her elbow "I meant...damn it Blake look at me."

She span round and wrenched her arm from my grip, the motion made a lump catch in my throat as she took a step back.

"If there are people out there 'better' for me you must have someone in mind already, did I get too boring and you wanna pawn me off on them?" How could she possibly think that, just the thought of her with someone else made me want to punch something.

"Don't put words in my mouth I didn't say that!"

"Well what is it then!"

"I...I don't deserve _you_!" I yelled

She paused and looked up at me finally " _Why_?" she breathed out

"You know damn well why." I said trying to stay calm

"After _everything_ we've been through you think something as small as where we come from or how we grew up would make the slightest bit of difference to me?" she said throwing her arms up "It doesn't matter, you're the one that it bothers. I...I couldn't be prouder of you." I heard her voice crack and she ran her hand through her hair letting it fall in a curtain down her back. I knew she only did that when she was stressed or upset.

I stepped forward trying to pull her into a hug but she shrugged me away "You think we don't deserve each other? That's bullshit. You don't deserve someone's love; you earn it. And we've both proved time and time again that we have."

She stopped to catch her breath and I saw her shoulders relax slightly. She stepped forward and poked me in the chest and I looked down surprised "Pietro you should know by now that I'm with you till the end, even if that happens to be tomorrow."

I felt guilt rise in me as I looked at her determined face. I'd made my problem bigger by assuming she thought the same. Now it was unbearably clear she would never think any less of me because I had a darker past than hers.

I stooped down to kiss her and felt a little smug knowing I'd taken her by surprise yet again. She smiled under my lips and stood up on her toes to reach me.

"I'm sorry." I said as she broke away for breath

"Don't be sorry just don't think like that again ok?" she asked and I nodded "Oh and just to clear things up-" she said reaching up and running her hands through my hair "I like your hair and you have plenty more than your speed going for you, Chris was just being an ass."

"Thanks" I smiled "Good to know."

She pulled away to sit back on the jet's ramp and pointed to the tent where Wanda was standing "You should probably get in there."

I nodded grudgingly "Are you going to tell your sister I was being an idiot." I asked smirking down at her.

She pondered for a moment "Nah, it'll be our secret. You owe me one though." I laughed imagining what she'd ask me to do. A split second later I stood by Wanda's side.

"Everything alright?" she asked squinting back over at Blake "What was all the shouting about?"

"Misunderstanding." I said moving to join the others in the tent.

Chris was staring at Natasha a hungry look in his eyes. It wasn't something I ever wanted to see. She didn't seem fazed by the attention though. "Where is the blood?" she asked him stopping in front of his chair. I moved to the side of the tent to keep out of view. I had no doubt Chris would love to play with my head more if he got the chance. Wanda leaned against my shoulder and I could see she looked nauseated by the grin on Chris's face.

"I told you already I don't know. "

"Well who took it?" asked Steve impatiently

I noticed a tiny flicker of anger in Chris's face as he replied "I don't know, I lost it."

Natasha had clearly noticed it too "Now why don't I believe you." she turned back to Steve "I think someone got too noisy with their little game and your 'Boss' didn't like that." she finished turning back to Chris "I think you were a loose end, needed tying off." Chris gritted his teeth but didn't answer, he might as well have though. "Yep, junior here messed up. Got the stash blown up and pissed off some mighty important people."

I grinned at Wanda. She had him.

"So the question is" she said stepping back and crossing her arms "Why does Hydra need enhanced blood if it already had enhanced working for them?"

Chris looked up slowly then and smirked "Who said we were Hydra?"

There was silence in the room and Steve spoke "We have your agents from the Hydra base, Blake said-"

"Blake said" Chris whined in a mock childish voice "I never actually said I worked for Hydra, some people just read into this way too much."

Natasha's gaze became icy "Then who do you work for?"

"The boss."

"He's just wasting time." I said moving into the light "He doesn't know anything."

Chris gave me a sad smile "If only you knew Slick, it would turn your hair..well not white I guess but you get the idea."

"Enough." said Wanda in a low voice "Tell us what you know or I'll turn that pretty little head inside out."

He raised his eyebrows noticing her for the first time, I didn't like the way his face lit up. "Well hello there." he said sitting up straighter. She ignored him and twisted her fingers in the air. Curling tendrils of red energy seeped from her hands and Chris's eyes widened in awe. "Amazing."

"Not when it comes into contact with your skin." she said calmly. I could see her game. Chris didn't know Wanda's powers wouldn't work on him. "What is your worst fear Chris? Because whatever it is, you'll soon be right in the middle of it." I saw him shift in his seat so he was further away from us. Wanda's magic crept towards him wrapping round the legs of his chair and he started to strain against his bonds.

It had nearly reached his neck when he yelled out "Fine! Just stop this!" she dropped her hands smiling at Natasha. My sister could be extremely scary when she wanted to be.

"Fine." he said again moving his eyes back to Natasha and Steve "Me, The boss, all the others, we're not Hydra, it's an easy cover, makes sure you go after them and not us. Most of us are enhanced in one way or another. We needed that blood to make us stronger." Steve's brow furrowed and he looked down at Chris.

"What do you mean stronger?"

"The blood we were collecting, it was meant to mix with ours." Natasha looked back at us in alarm "The blood hold the key, unlimited power supply for all enhanced. The boss and his followers, they wanted samples from the best of the best. The blood of an Avenger seemed ironic, especially when it's was Blake's. She blew up the rest so it's fitting they use hers."

"And now they have it?" I asked not wanting to know the answer.

"Every enhanced infused with Blake's blood will have her powers on top of their own." he said starting to laugh.

"Why? Why would they do that?" asked Wanda

"To strip away the false idols, those who call themselves enhanced and don't even know the meaning of the word. They're coming for you next!" His laugh was becoming louder and louder "But I should tell you." he said struggling against the ties "I might have taken a bit of Blake's blood before they took it all." The plastic snapped and his hands were free.

I stepped in front of Wanda as a loud bang rent the air. I glanced down at my chest almost expecting to see blood but there was nothing. I looked up and saw Natasha standing poised in front of Chris her gun inches away from his head. He stood frozen for a moment as the blood trickled down his forehead and then crumpled to the ground.

"Romanoff?" said Steve stepping forward. Natasha blinked once and put her gun away.

"Let's get back to base, there's nothing more here." I watched her walk out of the tent like nothing had happened and drew in a shaky breath. Wanda grabbed my hand as she looked down at Chris's body. At least he'd stopped laughing.

"Guys what's going on!" I could hear yelling outside and I dashed out to see Blake sprinting across the clearing "Pietro!" she slammed into me "Is everyone Ok?" she asked checking me over feverishly

"We are but Chris he's..." I couldn't finish. I didn't want to cause her anymore pain.

"Dead?" I paused for a moment then nodded. The faintest glimmer of a smile crossed her face "Good." she said simply


	8. Chapter 8

_**BLAKE**_

Over the next few days I kept expecting to feel remorse over Chris's death but it never came. I began to realise the boy I'd known had died long ago. I didn't feel happy about it but knowing he was no longer around to hurt the people I loved made it a little easier to sleep that night.

I stroked my fingers up and downs Pietro's arm which was wrapped round my waist and heard him mutter something softly. I couldn't understand it so I wondered if he'd said something in Sokovian, either way he didn't wake up. I rolled over onto my back and stared up at the ceiling taking comfort in the feel of his warm body next to mine. We weren't safe now, none of us. An army of fanatic enhanced were hunting us and most of them, maybe all of them, could match my powers.

There were agents floors below us still trying to get the rest of Chris's group to talk, what would happen if they never did? We didn't know where the others were, when they were coming, or if they even knew where we were. I felt both guilt and fear take hold of me and rested my head on Pietro's shoulder. His arms tightened around me as I moved, trying to keep me safe even in his sleep.

Through the dim light I could see his face, he would have looked peaceful if it weren't for the furrowing of his brow. I traced my hand across his forehead and down his chin before coming to rest on his chest.

"Well figure this out I promise." I said quietly almost to myself "I won't let anything happen to us." His face relaxed slightly and I closed my eyes letting sleep take me.

We were woken hours later by knocking at the door. I noticed how hot it was in the room and how bright the light was behind my eyelids. I opened my eyes blearily and looked over at the clock, it was one in the afternoon.

"Crap." I said scrambling up. Pietro moved next to me and grunted as I jumped over him to reach the door. I looked through the spyglass and saw Clint's distorted head inches away from the hole. I opened it and poked my head round door.

"Finally. Thought you'd be in there all day." he said looking at me amused

"Sorry, did we miss training?"

"No." he replied confused "It's Saturday." I was the one confused now

"Oh, I guess I got the days mixed up." There was a slight pause.

"I'd have knocked sooner but I thought you might be...busy." he said looking uncomfortable. I jumped realising what he meant then remembered I was still in my pyjamas. I glanced back at Pietro who was just getting out of bed ruffling his hair so that it stood up all over the place, he was bare-chested but otherwise clothed. I turned back to Clint grinning.

"We were just asleep. What's up?"

"Right, so Hill wanted to ask if you two were still coming to the event, you know with everything that's happened."

I groaned "That's today?" He nodded "Yeah I think we're coming." I said looking back at Pietro who nodded as well "Yeah we'll be there."

"What time does it start?" asked Pietro looking at his suit like he was hoping it might spontaneously combust. I had to stop myself laughing as Clint noticed as well.

"In an hour, the hall off level one. You gonna be alright in that?" he asked directing his words at Pietro trying to keep a straight face.

"Yeah thanks old man, I'll manage." he replied rolling his eyes.

"Hey we all gotta wear em'. See you there kids." Clint said clapping me on the arm. I smiled at him as he walked away and closed the door.

I walked over to my dress bag and pulled it down off the hanger, the pain in my ankle had lessened somewhat so I thought I'd at least brave the heels.

"We should probably get ready." I said turning to the bathroom. "If you laugh, there will be war."

"Hang on." He said catching my arm and taking the bag off me before hanging it on the back of the door. "Aren't you forgetting something?" I tilted my head to the side thinking of what he could mean. He cupped my face in his hand and traced his thumb across my lips. I shivered as he leaned down very fast and kissed me. "Happy Birthday."

"Oh no." I said leaning my head back "I was hoping you'd forget."

"Why?" he asked amused at my discomfort

"Because now I'm older than you and Wanda."

He laughed at me "Blake its only for a few months, why does it matter?"

"I don't know it doesn't really, it just feels weird."

"Because you've always been the younger one?" I nodded and he slipped his arms round me "Well I don't care, you look the same to me."

"Thanks." I said sarcastically "Now can I go and get changed?"

"Not yet." he said dashing to the closet and pulling out a small box "Close your eyes." I raised my eyebrows at the tiny box he grinned "I'm not going to do anything crazy."

I closed my eyes feeling something cold and metal drop into my palm. I froze trying to stop my mind from racing. "Ok open up." I heard him say and peaked down at the thing in my hands.

I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god." I said under my breath. It was a small green pin in the shape of a clover, exactly the same colour as my eyes. It was so well made I would have thought it was real if not for the hard texture against my skin.

"I thought you could wear it with your uniform." he said

"You remembered."

"It's from me and Wanda, we had it made in the armoury downstairs." he said picking it up and turning it round. There was a large 'A' carved into the back surrounded by a half circle.

"Avenger." I said smiling up at him.

"You like it?" He asked expectantly and I hugged him.

"I love it and thanks for not getting me chocolates."

"Why would I do that? You hate chocolate." he said letting me enter the bathroom alone.

"Try telling that to my sister." I said closing the door behind me.

I looked back at the dress and saw it was very long with a low back. A black sash cut the dress in half at the waist and a slit ran up the left leg. I thought how much it resembled my uniform and wondered if it had something to do with the event and making us recognisable to the attendees. Deciding to go all out I curled my hair loosely and when the dress was on I felt it tickle the skin on my back. I fixed the clover pin to my strap and let my hair fall over it. Finally I stepped into my heels and tested my ankle, it hurt but nowhere near as much as a few days ago. Looking back in the mirror I thought I could have looked worse but I had to resist the urge to throw on a jacket because I felt severely under dressed.

I opened the door quietly and stepped into the room. Pietro was stood against the wall fidgeting with the end of his sleeve. I watched him for a while leaning against the doorframe. Finally he pushed up his sleeves so he could move more easily and I laughed. He turned at the sound and stopped in his tracks. His eyes slid down my body and I saw his lips part slightly.

He shook his head and straightened up smirking at me. Though I could see he looked uncomfortable in his suit I couldn't deny it fit him perfectly and the deep blue contrasted with his hair in a very attractive way. I smiled in spite of myself at how handsome he looked.

I crossed the room in two strides feeling the dress flow around my legs and pressed my lips against his. When his hands pressed up against my back I noticed I was finally tall enough to reach him without standing on my tiptoes, maybe the heels weren't such a bad thing. The fabric of my dress parted around my leg as I hooked it round his and his hand gripped my thigh tightly holding it there. Ok maybe now wasn't the best time to get carried away. I pulled back and rested my forehead against his "So you like the suit?" he asked chuckling.

"Um that would be a yes." I replied smiling at him and moving away "We'd better..." I pointed back to the door trying to turn my attention away from him.

"We should..." he began reaching down and lacing his fingers through mine. I watched his eyes as they took in my appearance and coughed pointedly. He looked up "Yeah we should go."

I followed him out and down the hall. Wanda was already waiting for us. She grinned at Pietro who was still fidgeting and pulled me into a hug. I noticed she worn a knee length deep red gown. "Happy birthday." she said quietly and I groaned. When I let go I had to de-tangle my fingers from the black shawl she had draped around her shoulders.

"Not you too." I said and she gave me a questioning look.

"She doesn't want people to know it's her birthday." Pietro answered rolling his eyes.

Wanda smiled "Good luck with that."

"What do you mean?"

She grinned knowingly and held out her elbow. "You'll see."

I linked my arm with hers and we followed Pietro down a flight of stairs to the second level. I could hear chatter and music from a room at the end of the hallway and pushed open the door.

The hall was full of people, at least fifty or more. The far wall was covered in panelled windows looking out onto the forest, people milled around tables with drinks in their hands and a few danced in the centre of the room. I spotted Nat and Clint lurking near the door talking to Sam Wilson. They waved us over and Nat gave me a small hug.

"You doin ok?" she asked me and I stared round at everyone in the room. I couldn't believe how many people were here. Some I even recognized from my old recruit training days.

"Yeah. Hey Sam." I said shaking his hand "This is not what I was expecting." I said gesturing round "Where are all the government officials?"

"Over there." he said pointing to a few groups of people throughout the room. They seemed to be chatting animatedly with members of the team "Think they're enjoying themselves."

"I thought this was more of a meeting?" I asked confused looking round at the guys. Nat held up her hands and stepped forward.

"Busted, you got us. This is kind of a party...for you."

"No Nat you didn't." I said backing away "I didn't want a fuss."

"I told you she'd freak out." said Pietro pulling me back into the circle

"You knew?" I asked shocked

"We all did." said Wanda trying to conceal a laugh "It's not officially a party though, we just made more of a deal of this event."

"But this is serious guys." I looked round at the officials "We need to convince them to keep the team running-"

Nat put a hand on my shoulder "What better way to do that than let them get to know you all?" I sighed and she dropped her hand "Come on kiddo, just enjoy it, it's not your birthday every day." I tried to shh her then remembered everyone already knew.

"Ah fine then, but don't pull this again, I don't like surprises." They laughed and moved away.

Pietro leaned down and whispered in my ear "Liar, you love surprises." I waved him away with a smile as Maria Hill walked over to us. She looked stunning as always.

"Hi Maria." I said as she stopped in front of us.

"Nice to see you could make it." she said smiling down at me. Even with heels she was taller than me.

"Couldn't really say no could I."

"They told you then? Sorry I would have mentioned it but they said you'd back out if you knew."

"Probably smart." I said smiling

"How's your head?" she asked concerned pointing to my forehead. I'd almost forgotten about it, there was a still a slight bruise and cut above my eyebrow but it was healing pretty well.

"Good as can be expected." I said touching the spot with my fingers.

"Good. If you two have got a minute there's someone I'd like you to meet." She led us over to a tall man in the centre of a group of people. "Sir." she said tapping him on the shoulder. He turned round and I saw he was about Fury's age with pepper grey hair. "This is Pietro Maximoff and Blake Deveraux. This is Chancellor Rodriguez."

"Thank you Agent Hill." he said to Maria's retreating back. "Ah you must be Wanda's twin; Quicksilver." He said shaking Pietro's hand. It felt odd to hear Pietro addressed by his 'Avengers' title "And this charming young lady?" he asked turning back to me. Over his shoulder I caught sight of my refection looking back at me in the window, the green of my eyes and my pin glared bright against the glass.

"Clover, sir." I replied and Pietro grinned down at his shoes.

"Fitting." said Rodriguez nodding then his face turned a little more serious as he lowered his voice "I wondered if I could have a word?"

I glanced back at Pietro and he narrowed his eyes "Both of us?" I asked Rodriguez

"Of course." he detached himself from the group and we followed him to a quiet corner. "Now I understand you were involved in a mission recently, one that had an assumed Hydra connections."

"Yes sir."

"And you were injured on this mission." he asked looking directly into my eyes. I tried to see his motive written on his face but it was fairly blank.

"That's correct. But I recovered." I said not wanting him to get the wrong idea.

"I see that, but this is not the first time one of you or your team has been injured out in the field." his eyes lingered on Pietro. I saw Pietro shift his weight and cross his arms over his chest.

"It's part of the job." he said simply. I felt the corner of my lip twitch and straightened my face.

"There is always an element of risk to every job, sir. We don't let that stop us."

Rodriguez sighed "I know my dear that is what I mean. Less so for Captain Rogers and Agents Romanoff and Barton but yourself and your friends are far too young to be putting your lives in danger in defence of the public. You weren't trained like them, and blame falls on us if anything were to happen to you."

"With all do respect Chancellor, we are trained. But sometimes things happen in the field you can't predict or prepare for."

"Miss Deveraux, you don't understand the outrage we would be dealing with if one of your kind was killed in action." he said raising his hands a stern look on his face. I felt a spark of anger light inside me but kept calm all the same.

"One of our kind?" asked Pietro in a hostile tone

"Yes. And it's not only you we have to worry about. I'm told a group of the enhanced now possess the means to apply powers to their existing traits. Do you know how dangerous that makes you to the public?"

"We are dealing with that, it won't happen again. And it's just a minority, you know none of my team would do that."

"Nevertheless, I'm still uncertain if this group should continue, especially after the disaster in Sokovia. How can you protect us if you can't even protect each other?" I gritted my teeth and held onto Pietro's hand, both of ours were shaking slightly.

"I'm sorry sir, but are you saying you want to take us out of the field for our own good, _or yours_?" He seemed taken aback by my accusation and replied quickly.

"Both. The public deserves the right to defend themselves. You can't always be around to protect everyone, if you spread yourselves too thin something terrible could happen, and you and your partner are too young to die with innocent blood on your hands."

"Whether we are too young or not it doesn't matter." said Pietro stepping forward. I held onto his wrist to stop him moving and further. "We won't back down from a fight."

"Then you'll die." said Rodriguez sadly and walked away

I gazed after him speechless "Who does he think he is?"

"Entitled." said Pietro pulling me into a one armed hug

"I should go and talk to him, try to convince him." I said trying to push down the boiling feelings inside me. The man thought we were untrained, dangerous, naive, and freaks of nature, at least he'd been polite about how he'd said it.

"No don't ruin your birthday arguing with him, he's obviously made up his mind." said Pietro glaring after him.

"Do you think the others feel the same?" I asked him looking round at the crowd. No one seemed to be in a bad mood but then neither had Rodriguez.

"We'll find out." he said

I rested my chin on his shoulder and slipped my arms around his neck before closing my eyes. I don't think my body could deal with any more stress, my head ached and my feet were beginning to pinch in my shoes. I breathed in and felt his arms encircle my waist, I noticed then for the first time the music playing over the crowd.

"Dance with me." he said quietly in my ear.

I moved my head and looked into his eyes "What? Now?" I saw that glint in his eyes and knew he meant it "But there are so many people." I said looking back at the room and cringing. He looked over his shoulder and then back at me.

"We've been standing here alone for over a minute and nobody has even noticed, they aren't watching."

I smiled gingerly as he moved his hand down the back of my arm, along my wrist and fitted his fingers into mine. I gently placed my other hand on his shoulder and grinned as he pulled me so close I could feel his breath on my neck.

"Relax." I let his voice was over me and dropped my shoulders trying to calm myself.

"You make it look so easy."

"There is a trick to that." he said chuckling and kissing my jaw just under my ear "Act like no one else is here."

I took my arm off his shoulder laughing and stepped back "Well then if no one else is here, that means I can go." I'd only moved back a pace or so when he pulled my arm and span me into his chest. He looked down at me smugly.

"A little warning next time." I blurted out "Where did you learn to dance?" I asked impressed

"Believe it or not, there are good dancers in Sokovia. Wanda always wanted to learn but we didn't have enough money." He said gazing behind me to where she stood chatting to Nat and Steve. "We figured it out."

"Aren't you just full of surprises." I said and he flashed me a smile

"You have no idea." He lifted my arm up and guided me under it, my dress whipped around and I felt a soft breeze as it floated down around my legs. His hand was on my back then and I could sense the heat under my hair. "I don't think I told you how beautiful you look." he said moving his hands to my waist and stepping forward. I mirrored his movements without hesitation thinking that we weren't so awful at dancing. When you spent so much time with a person and fought back to back with them every day it made sense that our bodies just seemed to know where to move, reacting instinctively to the others.

I caught my breath as he lifted me off the floor and turned, then set me down slowly so our faces were inches apart and I dug my fingers into his arms to steady myself.

"You waited until now to show me this, just for maximum effect?"

"I thought it would be dramatic." he whispered against my skin. I laughed quietly and looked across the room. Like he said no one seemed to have noticed, no one but Nat. She winked at me and mouthed _'My turn next'_. I rolled my eyes at her. _'Nice try'_

Suddenly the music stopped and all the lights in the room went out.

Pietro shook me slightly and raised his head looking out the window "Blake."

A shiver went up my spine and I turned to stare out of the window. Dark figures were darting out from the tree line and running towards the building. One stopped right in front of the window and stooped down to pick something off the ground. I wondered what they were doing until they launched it directly into at the window. The force of which they threw it was so strong I'd only ever seen one person do it before, me.

"Get down!" I yelled and threw my hands over my head bracing myself as the window exploded with an enormous bang. Screams and shouts echoed around me and I looked up. Pietro had grabbed me and dashed to the other side of the room before I could breath. I spun round "Wanda!?" I shouted looking around for her. A huge red aura was spread across the busted window and shards of razor sharp glass were suspended in the middle of it. She stood crouched at the very centre holding her arms out like a shield.

We ran forward and she dropped her hands so the glass tinkled to the floor and one tiny rock bounced off her boot. Luckily she'd stopped the most of the blow out from hitting everyone else. Pietro looked her over frantically but she wasn't hurt.

"I'm alright." she said waving him away and taking a defensive stance "It's them you need to worry about." she pointed to the gaping hole in the wall where around a dozen bodies were clambering through.

The man at the very centre got to his feet brushing glass from his hands. "I think you're expecting us?"


	9. Chapter 9

_**BLAKE**_

He looked round at the people in the room in silence as the group around him got to their feet. They must have been a two or three years younger than me. I counted thirteen including the man who had spoken. Thirteen super enhanced humans in a room full of innocent bystanders. If we didn't play this right there was going to be blood on the floor.

I stepped forward and felt Pietro try to grab at my arm but I avoided his grasp. I saw the man's eyes focus on me, he hadn't changed as much as Chris had. His dark hair and eyes were still the same, still cold and hollow. He'd always been so good at manipulating the people closest to him, they saw a man raised above the rest who fought for justice. I saw him for what he really was, a coward and a liar.

"How did you find us?" I asked coming to a stop a few paces in front of him

"We never lost you, I've had eyes on you ever since Brookhaven." he said pointing to a woman to his left, she'd been one of the first to emerge from the trees. I remembered her from school she was an amazing tracker, maybe she had been watching us this whole time.

"Don't do anything you'll regret." I said as a few of them closed in around us.

"Blake come back." I heard someone say behind me but I ignored them

"Yes run back to your family, that's what you do best." said the man in a cold voice "You left us Blake and you abandoned Chris."

I scoffed "Me? I wasn't the one who had him beaten half to death."

There were mutters from the enhanced as I said this but he waved them away "He broke the rules. He had to suffer the consequences."

"You haven't changed a bit." I spat at him and saw something flicker in his eyes "Since when did experimenting on your own people become the plan?"

"We have to be stronger if we are going to survive, they know that. It's what they signed up for."

I noticed a shift in the group, some of them seemed uneasy and looked to one another for reassurance.

"Are you sure? Seems like some of them don't agree with you."

"We had some difficulties along the way but they are loyal to me in a way you could never understand."

"Difficulties?" I asked intrigued then realised what he meant "Oh, I get it. You experimented on them and these are what's left, what happened to the others huh? Did they sign up to die?" I looked round at them and they averted their gaze "You call this loyalty?"

"Like I said, you wouldn't understand. They are the best, the others were weak."

"How many?" I asked trying to keep my voice steady. He just stared at me like he didn't care " _How many!_ "

"Fifteen." he said without blinking "Fifteen dead before we ran out of your blood."

A look of horror crossed my face "Murderer." I said in a vicious voice "How could you they're just kids!"

Again he said nothing. The crowd behind me were becoming restless, I looked over my shoulder and saw Steve, Nat, Clint, and Sam join Pietro and Wanda at the front of the group. Pietro's eyes were begging me to come back but I couldn't, this monster he had to pay.

I turned to face him again. "You don't have to do this, just turn yourself in and nobody has to get hurt." It was a long shot, I knew from the moment I laid eyes on him he wouldn't back down.

"I'm sure, so what did you do with Chris? I thought he'd have made his way back by now."

I stiffened but decided not to lie, these people needed to know the difference between us "He died."

"See?" he said to the group "They'll just kill you anyway."

"That's not what-"

If I hadn't been waiting for it, it might have caught be off guard. He drew back his fist and launched it at me. My own connected with his and I felt a force shudder up my arm as we were both knocked off our feet. Suddenly someone kicked me in the side and I doubled over in pain, it came again and again and I heard yelling all around me.

I caught the next blow in my hand and pulled the person off their feet, they hit the floor next to me and I stamped my foot into their face. They released me right away and grabbed their bleeding nose. Jumping to my feet I saw jets of red energy flying out of Wanda's hands. The people in the room started rushing for the exit but it was blocked by two enhanced. I didn't like to think what would happen if they tried to get out. A blur of colour rushed by me and suddenly I stood across the room with Nat and Pietro. He let me go and I grabbed hold of his hand.

"Did they hurt you?" he said checking the place I'd been kicked.

"No I'm fine." he looked back over at his sister in dismay still holding onto me. I wouldn't make this hard for him.

"Help Wanda I'll be right behind you." he squeezed my hand gratefully and took off.

"Nat what do we do?" I said panic stricken turning to her, she seemed to be surveying the room. Two enhanced guarded the door but they weren't attacking they were just keeping people in. Another two flanked the boss while the rest were single handily taking on the twins, Sam, Clint and Steve. I spotted Rodriguez from the crowd near the door, he met my gaze and my stomach dropped, if we hadn't been in trouble earlier were certainly were now. At least the recruits had formed a protective circle around the guests.

"If we can get the big guy the others might stop, this doesn't have to end with everyone dead."

"I got him." I said and she shook her head

"Not alone you don't." I smiled as she handed me a gun

"Where did you..you know what never mind." she ran forward and I followed close behind her. I rolled out of the way as one of Wanda's energy balls hit someone in the chest and they were blasted out of the open window. Someone grabbed my ankle from the floor and I saw the girl from earlier with blood caked all over her nose.

"Don't" I pleaded as she went to grab my other foot. I didn't want to hurt her but she left me no choice, I had to help Nat. Kicking off my heels I rolled over and punched her in the chest. She spluttered trying to get in air and I wrapped both my legs around her neck holding onto her wrists so she couldn't fight back. She struggled for a moment and then I felt her grip go slack. I let go immediately not wanting to strangle her and got to my feet.

Nat was already halfway to the boss and I scrambled after her. She dispatched another enhanced who had been kicked into her path by Sam, I caught her up just as I heard a loud grunt to my left. Someone slammed into the wall next to me and I looked over to see and large man with a smug look on his face dusting off his hands.

"Quick little basterd." he said and turned away from the wall. I skidded to a stop and saw it was Pietro. Nat looked back at me and nodded "Get him and catch me up."

I grabbed Pietro's arm and helped him stand up. He rubbed the back of his head wincing.

"You alright?" I asked as he shook his head a few times and glared round the room.

"I will be as soon as I get him." he sped off again and I lost sight of him. I didn't have time to worry right now so I took off after Nat. She was mid fight with one of the boss's guards, I tried to sneak past but was caught by the other one.

"Alissa?" I said coming to a stop. I saw a look of recognition cross her face and she pulled me into a hug. I almost laughed but then her grip became tighter and tighter. I tried to kick out but she was so much taller than me and both my arms were pinned down to my sides.

"You left me." she said next to my ear "You left me with this maniac. I thought we were friends. I'm gonna to kill you." I couldn't speak, I couldn't breathe. Black spots popped in front of my vision and I thought ribs were going to break.

"Please." I croaked out and felt her grip loosen slightly. I managed to free my arms and head butted her so hard she fell over. She tried to get to her feet but I knelt on her chest and grabbed her face in my hands. "I'm so sorry." I said and knew what I had to do next, if they had all taken my blood and had my powers, it wasn't just my strength and projection they had.

"Get off me!" she yelled her hands beating hard against ribs. I tried to block out the pain as I saw Nat take down her guard. I had to do this now if we had any chance of living through this.

I leant down and spoke softly to her "Remember that time we were out climbing? I said you couldn't get any higher than me, I thought it would be funny to watch you try though." she started to struggle against me "You did it anyway, to prove me wrong. I should have know you would. You got all the way to the last branch-" her eyes grew wide and unfocused "And it snapped." I said in a shaking voice as she began to moan, she couldn't see me anymore. I knew she was back there, up in the tree. "I'll never forget the sound when you hit the floor." I finished trying to hold back tears. She screamed in pain and I felt her leg jerk to the left, the sound again echoed in my ears as it broke. I scrambled off her and took in a deep shaky breath.

Nat looked down at me sadly "You had to." she said and I nodded

"Yeah, come on." I grabbed my fallen gun from the floor and turned to face the last man. He glared down at Alissa.

"How did you do that?" he asked bitterly "She was my favourite." I held back a scathing comment, she had after all once been my friend. I didn't like anyone talking about her like they owned her.

"You didn't know? This isn't my only power." I said and punched him in the chest. He stumbled back and Nat shot him in the leg. Amazingly he didn't fall over, I watched as he gritted his teeth and pull out the bullet.

"I don't scare that easily." he said and dropped it at our feet. It tinkled to the floor and the room became very quiet. I saw only four enhanced were left standing, two trapped at the door by the crowd, one suspended against the wall by Wanda and the other was begin held in tight neck hold by Steve. "Avengers, what a joke." he said and I turned back to him "You have no idea what it's like on the outside. We are being hunted like animals, Shield wants us on their radar so they can monitor us 24/7, but you-" he said gesturing round me and the twins "You they love."

"I wouldn't go that far." I said thinking of Rodriguez words "But at least we try to do what's right. This is chaos what you've created. Did you really think giving yourself more power would make them less afraid of us?"

"Of course not. I want them to be afraid of us if that's what it takes to be better."

Nat rolled her eyes next to me "You amazingly failed, you can guarantee if they weren't hunting you before, they will be now."

"You said we don't understand what being enhanced really means? Sorry but I think you've got that backwards." He flared his nostrils and glared at me "Being enhanced gives you the ability to use your powers to try and make this crappy world a better place, not the right to do whatever the hell you want and go on a power trip just because you think you deserve it. How do you expect them to trust us with this much power if you go around killing them and experimenting on your own people?"

"I forgot why I hated you so much, you're just as-" I waited for him to continue but he didn't. His eyes so cold before became wide and terrified. I couldn't tell why, I hadn't done anything. I looked behind me but nothing in the room had changed. He coughed and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Oh my god." I said running forward out of instinct but he pushed me back and I stumbled into Nat.

"Stay back!" he spluttered out and more blood came leaking out of his mouth. I heard awful wrenching noises behind me and saw the other enhanced doubling over and coughing up blood too. Wanda and Steve looked alarmed and let down their captives onto the floor where they lay shaking and bleeding from their ears and eyes.

"What's happening?" asked Clint rolling a boy onto his side so he could breath "They're all dying."

"I don't know." I said dropping to the ground next to Alissa. Black liquid trickled out of the corner of her mouth and she gripped my hand him hers.

"Blake. I don't want..." I stroked her hair as she coughed violently

"I know, I know just hold on." I said tears rolling down my face "Someone call medical!" I yelled as one by one the kids stopped breathing and slumped onto the ground.

Alissa tried to speak again and a red tear escaped from her eye "It's the blood, our bodies are rejecting it. We weren't meant to last this long." she said and took in a long wheezing breath "Don't...don't let them do it again, it's not safe-" her hand went limp in mine and I lay my forehead against hers.

"I won't." I whispered and threw my body across the room to where he lay coughing in a pool of his own blood. He looked at me with wide eyes and shook his head. I let my breath come out through my teeth and knelt down next to him.

"How could you do this you son of a bitch!" I screamed and held my hand over his mouth. He jerked trying to move away but I just glared down at him disgusted. How many lives had he ruined? How many people's children, friends, brothers and sisters had died for his insane power game.

"Twenty seven lives." I said to him quietly as his eyes rolled back into his head and he stopped moving. There was silence in the room as I got to my feet. My dress was soaking in blood and ripped in a few places, my shoes lay long forgotten halfway across the room. I walked forward feeling the slick floor under my bare feet and saw Wanda cradling a boy in her arms as he took his last breath, the kid must have been fourteen at most. I felt sick and wanted nothing more than to be out of this room.

I silently handed my gun to Nat and walked towards the door. The crowd of on lookers stared at me as I passed. I stopped as I reached the door and turned back. Chancellor Rodriguez was staring at the body of a girl next to him, her eyes were still open and she just looked confused.

"I'm sorry we've been an inconvenience to you Chancellor, but the Avengers Initiative will continue to operate from this base, even if we have to do it without the backing of your government." he took his eyes off the girl and looked at me "Is that understood?"

"Yes." he said giving me a low nod and I walked out of the room trailing blood behind me.


	10. Chapter 10

_**BLAKE**_

I turned on the shower and stepped into it fully clothed. I had no doubt I'd left bloody footprints all the way from the hall to our room. Blood ran off my body and down into the drain in floods. I scraped it off my hands madly and tried to focus. An old friend had just died in my arms, I had just taken someone's life with my bare hands and dictated a direct order to a New York City Chancellor. I was in way over my head.

" _Damn it_ Blake" I said to myself and slid down the wall into a sitting position on the floor letting the water wash over me in an attempt to make myself clean.

Over the past few weeks something dark inside me had taken hold, I'd done things I'd never dreamed of. I acted tough most of the time and it helped me feel strong but now I felt weak and alone. I saw my refection in the glass of the shower, my hair was plastered to my face with water and blood was smeared across my cheek, it make me sick because I knew it wasn't mine.

There was a soft knock at the door and Pietro came in. I looked up at him and saw something break in his eyes. He stepped into the shower with me and pulled me into his arms.

"What can I do?" he asked wiping the hair back from my face. I grabbed his hands and held them to my lips

"Tell me I'm not this person, tell me I'm not a murderer." I said trying to reassure myself

"Of course you're not." he said kissing the top of my head "Why would you say that?"

"Because I literally _just_ killed someone." I said trying desperately to get the blood off my face "In cold blood. And now all those kids...they're dead. Why won't this come off!" My face felt raw from rubbing but it still wouldn't budge.

"Blake _please_ stop." he grabbed my hands tight but I still tried to reach my face "Stop it!" I let my body go limp and buried my face in his chest.

For a moment I thought I could hold back the tears but the sobbing came before I could even try. He rocked me back and forth not saying a word. I couldn't think of anything to say as I watched the red tinted water pool around my toes. He reached up and turned off the shower, the lack of noise was so unnerving, all I could hear was my unsteady breathing. His hand tilted my face up and I saw his hair was drenched. "You are not a murderer. You are a survivor. And no matter what the cost you are always there to protect us."

"If you're relying on me to protect you then you're all screwed." I sobbed "I didn't ask for that, I don't want it!"

"Shh it's alright." he said stroking my hair

"Is it? Look at what I just did Pietro. A good person would have done that-"

"That guy wouldn't have stopped until we were all dead. In the end he was dying anyway, what you did was mercy."

"It didn't feel like mercy it felt like revenge." I said seeing my fingers shake against his leg "I wanted him to _die_ and I wanted to do it."

Pietro took in a deep breath and stared at the wall darkly "You're not the only one." he said. It was times like this I saw how dangerous he could be.

"I shouldn't have, not like that in front of everyone." He tightened his arms around me

"It needed to be done, you showed the officials we're not just a bunch of children, they know you can make the hard choices, do what's best for everyone."

"How could I let this happen?" I muttered into my hands "If they hadn't had my blood they all be alive right now."

"Look at me." he said in a strong voice "If it wasn't your blood it would have been someone else's don't blame yourself for their mistakes."

"I should never have left, they-Alissa needed me and I just left them with-"

"Right that's it." said Pietro grabbing my face in his hands "You're just going round in circles, don't do that to yourself, the only person it's going to hurt is you."

I sighed and nodded. He was right but it was easier said than done. "Did anyone else get hurt? Wanda?"

"No they're all fine but Blake...I'm so sorry about your friend."

"Thanks." I said barely understanding the words coming out of my mouth, I kept seeing her face swimming before my eyes as her leg snapped again. My head began to ache and I got that familiar sensation of being pulled into the past. He must have seen the look on my face because I was jerked back to the present when he stood up taking me with him.

"Fight it." he said pressing his lips against mine. "Stay here ok? Focus." It shocked me enough to pull me back. The light in the bathroom was too bright it stung my eyes but it was easy for me to zone in on.

"You should get into something dry." he said setting me my feet and handing me my dressing gown. Something dug into my shoulder and I noticed the clover pin, I unhooked it and placed it on the side. Slipping off my sodden dress I threw it into the trash. No amount of dry cleaning would get that much blood out.

I heard an intake of breath as his hands moved to my side. I finally looked into the mirror and saw the bruises across my rib cage left by Alissa, I threw on my robe so I didn't have to look at them and turned to Pietro. Maybe there was something I could do to take my mind off it.

"Let me take a look at your head." I said as he sat down on the bed in the other room

"Really it's nothing." he said as I gently pressed my fingers against the bump.

He winched slightly and I nodded. "Nothing huh?"

"Come on I've had worse against that head board." he said grinning and pointed to the bed. I couldn't help but laugh. "There she is." he smiled slipping his hands around me.

My own smile fell, who was _she_. I didn't feel like the same person I had when we'd met. I stepped away and ran my hands through my damp hair. Opening the window I leaned out of it and breathed in the clean air.

"I don't know who I am anymore." I said quietly staring out into the forest and crossing my arms over my chest. The weather seemed to be laughing at me, it was warm and a slight breeze rustled the trees, perfectly calm. I heard him get up behind me and rest his head on top of mine.

"I know who you are, I always have."

I chuckled "You sure about that? I don't think I'm the same person you met back in New York."

He gripped my shoulders and turned me to face him.

"Neither of us are. I don't think we could have come out of all of this exactly the same, come on we've both nearly died twice." I looked up at him trying to read his expression and all I got was sincerity "It doesn't mean I don't know who you are or that I don't still love you."

I stared down at my hands feeling undeserving. Why should I get love when I'd just done something as terrible as take a human life.

"Say something." he said anxiously caressing my face with soft fingers

He was right in a way, we had been through so much. But at the end of each traumatic event I felt part of myself ripped away with it. The only way I could think to keep myself together was make sure I tried my best to be the person he thought I was. A person I was scared of losing all together if I carried on this way. The emotions seemed to be weighing me down and I felt like I was going to suffocate if I didn't let him know.

"I hope I didn't let you down." I said and he looked taken aback

"Let _me_ down? You could never-"

"I might one day, I might go too far. I want to you promise me if that happens you won't try to make me feel better or...you'll just leave. I won't bring you down with me."

I had to tell him because I was genuinely scared of what I was capable of now. I had nearly killed Evans and Chris, then today... if that happened again I couldn't bear the thought of loosing Pietro along with myself.

"No way in hell is that happening." he said and picked me up in his arms.

"I'm serious Pietro."

"Yeah well so am I. Think of what you're asking me to do, could you do it if it were me?" I thought about that and fell silent, probably not. I would fight for him until my last breath if I had to. "Exactly. For one, you could never do anything that would make me leave you, and two, if I have to tell you one more time what you did today was not murder I am going to-"

"What?" I asked raising an eyebrow as he lay me down on the bed.

"Something...bad." he said distractedly with his face inches away from mine

"I am terrified." I said sarcastically before wrapping my legs round him and pulling off his wet shirt. He crushed his lips against mine as I ripped off my dressing gown and threw it aside. I knew it was irresponsible of me but I didn't care, I needed him. So many things seemed to be slipping away from me recently I had to hold on to the one thing that I couldn't live without. The steam from the bathroom had already made the room warm but my body from the shower was hotter as it connected with his. He kissed down my neck and stopped when he came to my chest.

"We don't have to." he said looking up at me with those crystal blue eyes.

I shook my head and cut him off with a kiss "Please" I said taking a breath hoping he could see by my face I was serious "I need this."

"Since when do I need asking twice." he chuckled and slid an arm round my back "Wait." he said and I fell back on the mattress as he dashed across the room and locked the door. "I am sick of people walking into our room."

"Good call." I laughed getting up and gripping my hands tightly in his hair. I guided him to the armchair opposite the bed and he fell into it looking up at me grinning "You didn't see that coming?" I said and he pulled me down with him grabbing my thighs and fitting them round his body.

"That really is my line." he said smirking up at me. I leant down and pressed my lips to his once again. One arm encircled my waist while the other dug into my leg hungrily. I groaned quietly as my ribs ached but didn't say anything, it was worth the pain. I moved my mouth down his jaw and he stretched his head back closing his eyes.

"Blake?" he said letting out a small moan

"Mmm?" I asked my mouth on the crook of his neck. I could feel his pulse beating fast under my lips

"I really meant it, if you need some time away we-" he trailed off and opened his eyes to focus "-We can go wherever you want."

"Huh." I straightening up considering and re positioned my hips so I could look at him properly "That might be a good idea actually." I thought of where we could go, anywhere but here would be welcomed at least for a while.

He chuckled quietly "Great, but I didn't mean stop."

"Right." I replied laughing at the look on his face "How about we talk about it in the morning?"

His muscles shifted under me and he nodded grabbing hold of my hips as I moved them towards him. With each new movement I could see him trying to control himself straining against the chair, but he was getting that look and I knew he couldn't hold out much longer. Sure enough a second later he'd picked me up and darted to the bed.

I gave him an innocent smile and he grinned down at me "You are such a little tease."

"I learnt from the best remember." I said as he moved his mouth back to mine "So really, it's all your fault."

Weighing this against the events of the past day I couldn't work out if it really had been the worst birthday of my life or not. By morning he'd persuaded me enough that I thought it hadn't been the very worst.

I woke up before Pietro and got dressed quietly before leaving a note to tell him where I was going. As I left he rolled over in bed and I saw his arm twitch slightly as it found only an empty mattress next to him. A few moments later I knocked on Wanda's door and heard her alarm going off inside.

"Wand? You awake?" There came a muffled grumble from inside and I slowly opened the door. She was laying in bed trying to turn off her clock which was buzzing annoyingly. After a moment she flicked her finger and a wisp of red light knocked it onto the floor and it stopped beeping. She beckoned me into the room and rolled over.

"Ooh sorry I didn't think you'd still be asleep." I said taking a seat at the end of her bed and fiddling with book she had rested on the arm.

"No its alright I should have been up an hour ago." she said stretching and sitting up rubbing her eyes

"Rough night?" I asked as she looked at me blearily

"Not really, I'm just a bit tapped out on magic. I used a lot yesterday."

"Thank you for that." I said smiling "I dunno what we would have done without you."

"That's what we're here for." she said and I saw a hint of sadness in her eyes

"What is it?"

"I was up late as well with Steve trying to find the kids parents to tell them..."

"Wanda you didn't have to do that, I'll sort it out." she held up her hand to stop me.

"As if you didn't have enough to deal with, no its fine."

"Did you find them all?" I asked putting down the book

"All we could, at least half of them didn't have any family."

I put my head in my hands and looked up "That makes sense. No body to miss them and no body to run back to. Asshole. No not you." I said as she looked shocked "The guy I..." I got up quickly and made to leave.

"Blake, I know you're hurting." she said and I turned to look at her "But you did the right thing."

"Thank but I'm not so sure." I gave her a small smile

"Come here." she said holding out her hand. I took it gratefully and she pulled me into a hug "Know that we all love you ok? We can get passed this together."

I choked back tears and squeezed her tightly "Love you too." I let out a huge breath and felt a weight leave my shoulders. She let go and wiped away a tear that had leaked out.

"Hey don't you'll make me start" she laughed

"I better go." I smiled and she nodded sitting back against her head board.

"Hey Blake, the officials are letting us continue with our work and they and all the recruits think you're a badass."

I laughed without humour "Too bad it's for nothing good. I'll let you get up. Catch you later" I said giving her a quick hug and leaving her staring after me.

I wondered around until I found Clint. He was sat in the communications room fiddling with some dials on a headset.

"Oh hey kiddo." he said pulling me a chair up to the desk "Didn't see you yesterday after the event. You doin ok?" I sighed and sat on the chair backwards

"I swear the next time someone asks me that I'm gonna start throwing punches."

"Noted." he said smiling at me "You need something?"

"Yeah I wanted to ask you something. About your family?" I said quietly so the others on the far side of the room couldn't hear. He put down the head set and rolled his chair closer to mine.

"What about them, you heard something? I only spoke to Laura this morning."

"No no it's nothing like that, I just wondered...you guys crashed there after Wanda got to you in Africa, went to clear your heads?"

"Yeah and?"

"Well, Clint I'm kinda going crazy cooped up here, after what's happened over the last week I need to get away. If Fury's Ok with it."

"You're leaving?" he asked astonished

"No not forever, just for a few days. You think Laura would be alright with that? I can't face going home just yet."

He seemed to take that into consideration then nodded slightly to himself. "Yeah I'm sure that will be fine, I'll call her to make sure but I know she wants to meet you and the kids...is it just you?" he asked looking wary

"If Pietro could come as well? Like I said it's just for a few days and I'll help out around the-"

"Yeah that's great." he said smiling "He can finally meet Nathan."

"Wow that was easy." I said grinning and he ruffled my hair

"Hey kid you're one of us, what's mine is yours and all that crap."

"Ah thanks Clint, I owe you one."

"Nah you don't, I wanna help. I'll let Laura know, I'm headed home in a few days anyway so you two can tag along. But you'll have to share a room, now Nathan's got the one upstairs."

"Don't think that will be an issue." I said laughing and getting to my feet "You wanna text me the plan and I'll catch up with you at dinner?"

"You got it." he said turning back to the tech board in front of him.

"Kid?" he called at I reached the door "I know this job ain't all it's cracked up to be but...I'm proud of you."

I didn't know what to say, he gave me a small smile and rolled over to the other guys in the room. Were people just trying to make me cry today, I shook myself and walked back towards the breakfast room. I felt my hair whip behind me as Pietro skidded to a stop next to me.

"Hey there you are, I've been looking for you."

"Sorry I left Wanda's a bit early."

"Me too, she's in a mood." he said looking sulky

"Be nice she's just tired." I said locking my fingers through his "So I just talked to Barton, you feel like getting away from this place for a few days?"

He raised one eyebrow at me "Why, where are we going?"

"Hopefully somewhere where nothing will blow up in our faces." I said feeling sceptical


	11. Chapter 11

_**BLAKE**_

I fell asleep on the way to Clint's house cramped in the back of a tinted SUV with Pietro. My bag was stuffed under the seat so that my legs were raised uncomfortably up to my chest. I stretched out as much as possible as Pietro shifted his arm around me to make room. It was dark in the car as we drove towards our destination. The last few days of training had been intense, I'd thrown everything I had into my sessions with Nat so she understood I was still serious about my position on the team. Never the less this trip might give me some of my freedom back, at least of a few days.

Pietro seemed to be glad to be coming along with us as well, he got more cooped up than I did back at base but at least he could sprint outside and be somewhere else in literally a minute. I didn't have that luxury.

We pulled up to the farm around dusk and the hot air seemed to cover everything as we walked up to the front porch.

"Don't worry we'll have the AC on." said Clint seeing my discomfort

There was a loud yell of "Dad!" from inside the house and a moment later the door opened. Two small people came barrelling out and latched themselves to Clint. He pretended to fall over and picked up his little girl. She smiled nervously at us and buried her head in her father's shoulder. She must have been only been a few years younger than my sister.

"Nah you're not shy you little kidder." said Clint pinching her cheek and clapping his son on the back. "Blake, Pietro, this is Lila and Cooper." he said gesturing to the kids

I gave them a wave. Cooper gazed up at Pietro in awe and he grinned back down at the boy, it was funny to see the height difference between them.

"Hey buddy don't stare." said Clint ruffling Coopers hair.

A shadow moved across the light and I looked up to see a woman framed in the doorway. She had long brown hair that fell in soft curls past her shoulders, when she smiled I noticed she had a very kind and pretty face.

Clint detached himself from the kids and gave her a kiss on the cheek "Hey honey sorry we're late, someone didn't finish training until five." he said throwing a nod at me.

"No it's fine." she said and held out her hand to me "I'm Laura."

"Hi, Blake." I said smiling back and shaking it "Clint's told me a lot about you."

She raised her eyebrow at him "Nothing bad I hope."

"No Maam." he said grinning "Come here you" he followed Lila into the house as she ran in giggling

"Kids, I said you could stay up until Dad got home, ready for bed in ten Ok?" she said as Cooper grumbled his way into the house after his father "Come on in you two, are you hungry?" I looked back at Pietro and he gave me a guilty nod

"Yeah, we're always hungry."

She laughed then and beckoned for us to come in "I guess it comes with the job. Have a seat I'll get you something."

We dropped our bags by the door as she closed it behind us. The heat was just bearable inside the house, a soft murmuring over the door jamb told me the AC was on full blast. I looked round at the room and saw it was rustic and cosy, very different from what I was used to.

I felt like I stood out oddly against the homely decor with my healing battle scars and training clothing. Pietro stood out as well but for many other reasons. He shifted awkwardly on his feet looking round at the family, Clint was being wrestled onto the couch by the kids while Laura was busy behind them in the kitchen. This was something I was familiar with, I'd grown up in a house with my parents and my little sister so it didn't really bother me. Pietro on the other hand, well this must have been difficult for him to see after how he'd grown up.

"They won't bite." I joked and got a smile out of him.

"Are you guys alright with sandwiches? We ate earlier so there's nothing made up." called Laura her head in the fridge

"That's great." I said moving to sit in one of the kitchen chairs "And thanks for letting us stay Laura, I really appreciate it."

"No problem hunni, Clint told me you've been having a bit of a crazy week." she said setting a plate of food in front of me

"You have no idea." I said smiling "So where's the littlest Barton?"

She sighed "He's asleep finally, I swear to god he's got more energy than those two put together." she said pointing at the kids, her smile faded then as she looked over my shoulder. I followed her gaze and saw she was looking at Pietro who was still stood by the door.

"You coming in?" I asked turning round in my seat and his attention focused on me. He nodded absentmindedly and came into the kitchen. Laura watched him the whole time a sad look on her face. He stopped behind my chair and pulled out the one next to me. She set him down some food and drink too. He thanked her though he looked a bit bewildered by the fact that someone was mothering him.

She looked over at us like she wanted to say something but stopped herself as Pietro tucked into his food.

"So how long are you staying?" she asked me

"Just a few days, if that's ok? If you need any help around the farm I'll lend a hand."

"Don't you dare, you're here to get away from working." she laughed then turned back to Pietro and opened her mouth.

"Pietro I...I wanted to thank you." she said sitting down across from him "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have my husband..and my kids they-" she trailed off and shook herself slightly "I can never thank you enough, so if you or your sister ever need _anything_ , we're only a phone call away." she finished smiling at him.

I felt my heart ache as I looked at her. All my nightmares and visions seemed tiny in comparison with the fear she must have gone through imagining what life would have been like if Pietro had made a different call back in Sokovia. Pietro coughed next to me and looked up at Laura stunned.

A moment later he corrected himself "He's a good man, I couldn't let that happen to him."

She looked over at Clint who was still playing with the kids and her eyes became very bright. Then she reached over and squeezed Pietro's hand slightly. "You are as well. I'm so sorry you had to go through that, both of you." she said looking at me too. I wondered what she meant then realized that Clint must have told her about my dreams and how much Pietro meant to me.

She let go of his hand and straightened up smiling "Your room is down the hall to the left, if you need anything, just grab it. I'll see you in the morning, and it's great to finally meet you both." She wandered over to the couch and sat down with her family.

"You too." said Pietro but she was already out of earshot.

I pulled my feet up so I sat crossed legged in my chair and watched him. As much as I felt out of place in this homely environment, Pietro stood out even more. I'd only ever known him at the base and out in the field where his body and personality alone gave him a presence you couldn't help but notice. But here it was almost funny to see all that folded up into a small kitchen chair. He was still sat very close to me, whether out of habit or familiarity I couldn't tell. My eyes found his face and all the humour went out of me.

He looked odd. I'd seen him at his best, laughing and joking, quick-witted and flirting nonstop. And I'd also seen him at his worst, dark and desperate and full of anger, but this was something different. He just looked confused and innocent as he looked over at the family on the couch.

I rested my hand on top of his on the table and he jumped. "You ok?" I asked as he looked at me. The innocence was gone in a split second replaced by casual amusement.

"I will be if you say you're not going to finish that sandwich."

I laughed and pushed it towards him "Knock yourself out."

"Right kids we're off to bed." said Clint getting up a squirming child under each arm.

"Night." I said as he slowly walked up the stairs with the kids laughing their heads off. Laura smiled fondly at us and waved goodnight.

The moment they left Pietro put down his food and got his feet suddenly holding out his hand to me. "I need some air, are you coming?"

"Um yeah ok." I said letting him pull me to my feet. The back door was on the latch letting air into the stuffy house. He pushed it open and strode into the garden. I followed him until he reached the fence.

He crossed his arms and leaned against the wood looking back at the house. His eyes were dark and he seemed to be standing very ridged.

"Everything alright?" I asked walking up to him, he nodded and glanced down at me for a second. "You're a terrible liar." I said and he narrowed his eyes

"What do you mean?"

"It bothers you that they're happy doesn't it?" he looked at me confused "I mean after what you and Wanda went through, how you grew up. I know it's not fair but it's ok to be jealous." I said hoping I didn't offend him

He looked over to the surrounding trees "Yes I am. Our childhood was hell, I just wish I'd had someone around to take care of us, so we weren't alone."

"Hey you are not alone anymore." I said reaching up and resting my hand on his face "You might not have had a family your whole life but you had your sister, and you have us now. Those people in there-" I said pointing back to the house. "They are happy because of you. That has to count for something, right?"

Finally he took his eyes off the trees and looked down at me. I could see he was hurting but he smiled anyway and pulled me into a hug "It does."

"If you don't want to stay here I understand." I said into his chest

"No I'll stay." he said kissing the top of my head "Anyway it would be far too boring at home if you weren't there."

"Always the romantic." I said and he chuckled. There was a sudden crack in a tree to our left and I span round.

How in the hell did someone find us all the way out here? I stepped forward squinting into the trees but before I could do anything Pietro started laughing quietly behind me. I looked back at him and he stopped but his eyes were still twinkling. He pointed back to the tree and I saw a bird fly off into the night. I dropped my arms and raised my eyebrows at him because he looked like he was going to start laughing at me again.

"I'm sorry." he said raising his arms and grinning "You need to relax."

"Next time you can fend for yourself." I said as he slipped his arms round my shoulders

"Against a bird? I think I'll manage."

"I'll get you back for laughing you know that." I said trying to hold back a yawn

"I don't doubt." he said and caught hold of me. We were back in the house a second later and he set me back on my feet "Bed?"

I nodded and grabbed my bag from the hall. As soon as I opened the door a cool breeze hit my face from the fan in the corner of the room and I went to stand in front of it feeling my hair flow out behind me.

"If you stand in front of it all night I'll boil over here." said Pietro flopping down lazily onto the bed and putting his hands behind his head.

"You've got that enhanced thermal homeostasis thing, you'll be fine."

"Um that's when I'm running not standing still." he said and put his hand on my back. His skin was hotter than mine almost feverish, I moved out of the way and sat opposite him on the bed as he shrugged off his jacket.

"Thanks for coming with me." I said nudging his foot with mine

"I didn't have anything better to do." he replied smiling at me and closing his eyes. I watched him and heard his breathing becoming slower and slower.

"Pietro?" There was no response, he was already asleep. Typical. I laughed and got changed before turning off the light and turning up the fan. I thought about texting Wanda to let her know we'd arrived safe but I was asleep the moment my head hit the pillow.

It was another night of fitful dreams. I slipped in and out of distant memories and more recent nightmares. The images of a blood stained floor and blank eyes crowded into my mind. The earlier it got the more I wondered if I would actually get any sleep and the stuffy room didn't help matters.

I was just between waking and sleeping when someone kicked me in the leg.

"Ouch" I sat up and looked over at Pietro. I would have thought he was fidgeting but for the tenseness of his muscles. One hand clawed at his chest while the other gripped the bed frame like he was trying to snap it in two. I began to panic as his breathing started to get very fast.

"Pietro?" I said shaking his shoulders. He muttered something and a heart breaking moan came out of his mouth. "Pietro wake up!" I said again more loudly.

He jerked awake and his eyes snapped open. He looked down at his chest but here was nothing there, nothing but faint scaring. He swallowed and let his head fall back on the pillow. I stared down at him in shock but all he did was cover his face with his hands. His breathing was still very fast but he managed to call out to me softly.

"Hey I'm right here." I said pushing the damp hair back from his face and prying his hands back from his face. "What was that?" I asked as he opened his eyes again. "A nightmare?"

He nodded and got up with his back to me. "Since when do you get nightmares?"

"I've always had them." he said still not looking at me "But now, since Hydra and Sokovia they're worse."

"Why..why didn't you tell me?"

"Because-" he said turning round and looking at me "You had enough to handle with your own."

"You mean you've been like this since we've been together and you didn't say anything?"

"Wouldn't make a difference, at least you'd feel safe."

My hand clenched the mattress as I imagined what he'd been going through without me. He glanced up at me guiltily "I just wanted to take care or you for a change."

I gazed back at him trying to hold back the wetness in my eyes "But we take care of each other in this relationship, that's how this works ok?"

He chuckled quietly as he came back to the bed and pulled me into his arms "Ok I got you."

Finally around 4 am he drifted off. And having put my head close to Pietro's chest with his rhythmic breathing calming me I feel asleep as well.

We were woken fairly early by the sounds of thundering feet upstairs. I sat up quickly wondering where the hell I was. Pietro rolled over next to me and pulled the pillow over his head. I flopped back down next to him remembering where we were and who was making all the noise. How did I expect to lay in with two kids and a baby in the house. There was a knock at the door and Clint's voice echoed through the wood.

"You want any breakfast guys?"

I groaned and rolled over so I was face to face with Pietro. He blinked a few times and shook his head.

"No thanks." I yelled back and he screwed his eyes shut at the noise

"Sorry." I said smiling as he pushed himself up slowly running his hands through his messy hair.

"What time is it?"

I looked over at my phone on the nightstand and cursed "Its six thirty." I had a message from Wanda and a voicemail from a number I didn't recognise but I was too groggy to answer them now.

"What?" he said incredulously looking up at the ceiling through which we could hear the kids running around

"They probably have school."

"Why does it have to be so early." he said swinging his legs over the side of the bed and standing up. He was still fully dressed from the night before, but unlike me he hadn't been training the day before so he could get away with it. I grabbed some clothes from my bag and threw them on. The noise above our room had stopped but there was a slight commotion in the kitchen now instead.

The kids were sat at the counter wolfing down their breakfast while Laura got their pack lunches ready. Clint grinned at us as we entered the room still half asleep "Morning sleeping beauty."

"Uh huh." I said not knowing which one of us he was talking to and sat at the table in front of a stack of toast.

"Help yourselves." said Laura patting me on the shoulder but I didn't feel like eating

"Look I gotta run the kids to school." said Clint throwing Cooper his jacket from the door "But me and Laura want to have a chat with you guys later when you get a second."

I glanced at Pietro and he looked quizzically back at me.

"Don't panic." said Laura kindly from the door helping Lila into her shoes "It's nothing to worry about."

I was still sceptical but passed Pietro a slice of buttered toast and despite the fact he hadn't wanted breakfast he ate it anyway. Ten minutes later Clint had the kids packed into the car and was pulling out of the drive. Laura disappeared upstairs not long after so we were left alone in the kitchen.

"What do you want to do today?" asked Pietro kissing my cheek as he got up.

I watched him saunter over to the sink and get some water. There was no way I could sit around all day watching TV and doing nothing, it wasn't in my nature. Outside I could see the day was bright and sunny but not as warm as yesterday. I didn't want to stray too far from the house though in case anybody needed us but then it came to me.

He saw me looking out the window and raised an eyebrow "I thought you wanted to relax?"

"You know it's physically impossible for me to do that." I laughed. He sighed and opened the back door smiling.

"I know, after you."

We spent the next few hours training in the garden. Mostly practicing hand to hand combat as Pietro still wasn't as good as me, I think he thought that with his speed he didn't have to learn. Why did you need to throw a punch if no one could hit you? It was a fair point, after hours I'd only managed a few precise hits. Each time I missed he grinned even more like he was proving his point perfectly.

"You're getting slow." he said grabbing my fist in his hand and spinning me round so I was crushed against his chest.

"And you're getting too cocky." I said ducking under his arm and wrapping my own round his neck from behind. He laughed and held is hands up, I was about to let go when he grabbed my arms and sped across the lawn pinning me against a tree with his back.

"You were saying." he said turning his head to look at me

"Pretty sure that's cheating." I said and looked up as the car pulled back into the drive and Clint stepped out.

"Come on you two, you're supposed to be on holiday." he said walking over to us. Pietro let me go and I brushed off the dirt from my clothes.

"It was her idea." he said pointing at me and smirking as I glared back at him

"Traitor." I said and he shrugged his shoulders

"It's getting hot out here, you coming in for a brake?" said Clint and we gladly followed him back indoors. Laura must still have been upstairs because no one was in the kitchen or living room.

I flopped down the sofa exhausted. When I trained with Nat I came away with bumps and bruises, when I trained with Wanda I ending up getting knocked on my ass, but when I trained with Pietro every single muscle in my body ached afterwards. He lounged in the chair opposite and winked at me. I envied his clear lack of exhaustion, the only way he got tired was by running way too much in a short space of time. I pulled myself up from the lumpy couch hearing my elbow click as I stretched it out.

"I'm going for a shower." I said and went back into our room. I felt grubby from the heat and jumped into a cold shower in a matter of minutes. When I emerged I felt miles better and not nearly as warm. The fan was still humming in the corner and I clicked open the window too to let the air flow through the room. I turned and jumped as I spotted Pietro on the bed.

"Nice." he said gesturing to the towel wrapped around me. I looked down and pulled it off laughing at the mischievous glint in his eyes. "Better."

My damp hair dripped down my back making me shiver for the first time in days. I spotted my reflection in the mirror and saw the purplish bruises on my ribs under my dark hair.

I pulled on a fresh change of clothes and grabbed my phone from the side. Before reading it I glanced over at Pietro who was still grinning at me.

"I don't think so." I said leaning down and meeting his lips with mine. He groaned an _'OK'_ under my mouth and snaked his arm around my waist pulling me onto the mattress. I broke away turning over so I was resting my head on his chest and unlocked my phone.

I had a message from Wanda asking how everything was going and telling me about her sessions with Vision. Pietro read it over my shoulder and made a disgruntled noise as he saw Vision's name. He didn't approve of Wanda hanging around with Vision. It was another one of those things he had no control over though, we were all on the same team. The vision and Wanda seemed to understand each other in an innate way that made them perfect training partners. I didn't see anything wrong with that but Pietro was still very protective of his sister, half of the time he didn't have to be, old habits die hard.

Flicking to the next message I saw it was from my sister, more ramblings about life at home. It didn't make me homesick but I did miss her.

Finally I tried the voicemail, it buzzed for a moment and then cut out. I took the phone away from my ear and looked at the screen which read _'Level Seven Access Denied'._

I flicked it off confused and slipped the phone into my pocket. Obviously it wasn't meant for me or I would have been able to open it. Looking up I saw Pietro's bright blue eyes gazing down at me, he leaned over and kissed me again twisting his hand in my long hair. Most of my weight was on his arm under my back and as I moved it tightened around me. I rose up so I could reach him more and crinkled my nose as his hair ticked my face. He smiled under my lips and pressed his once very hard against mine before pulling away. The sound of someone descending the stairs caught our attention and I sat up hopping off the bed as Clint called us from the living room.

I followed Pietro out and nearly walked into him as he stopped in the hall. Looking round him I saw Laura holding Nathan in her arms. She smiled and beckoned for us to come in.

I came to stand right next to Laura and Nathan looked curiously up at me. I didn't know what Nat was saying he wasn't fat at all, he was probably the cutest thing I'd ever seen with his large eyes and fuzzy hair.

Clint grinned at me as he saw my reaction "Cute right?"

"Takes after his Mom." I said back and Laura laughed as Clint's smile fell

"Yeah but he looks like me."

"I don't know Barton, maybe he got lucky." said Pietro looking over my shoulder at the baby.

"You guys just like to gang up on me." said Clint getting to his feet and coming to stand next to his son. Nathan looked up at Pietro and giggled reaching out for him. "I think he likes you."

Pietro smiled awkwardly and put his hands in his pockets. I could see he was pleased but didn't want anyone to see it. "So we wanted to talk to you." said Laura switching Nathan over to her other hip as he started squirming around. I stiffened wondering what I could have possible done to upset her after just one day. I perched myself on the couch arm next to Pietro who had sat himself down leaning his elbows on his legs. I watched Laura bob up and down to sooth the baby and thought how much of a natural she was, I hadn't heard him cry once yet. "Hawkeye you want to do the honours?" she said almost smiling. He nodded and turned to us.

"So we've been thinking about this for a while and we decided while you're here we should ask you in person." he said taking a breath "You can say no, we won't be offended."

I could see he was on the verge of going off on a tangent "Clint, just tell us?"

He looked over at Nathan who was pulling on Laura's hair and chewing on the ends "This kid's gonna need some serious guidance and we'd prefer at little help along the way if you can. So what do you say to being his godparents?"

If I could have seen my face I probably would have laughed because my jaw dropped and I nearly slipped off the couch.

"Us?" said Pietro from behind me and I looked down at him. He looked as shocked as I felt "Why?"

Clint smiled at his wife "Told you they'd react like this. Look guys I know this a lot but we made the right choice. You two are some of the best people I know, I want my son to have that when he grows up." Then he directed his words at Pietro "I want him to know the reason he has a Dad at all this because of the man you are."

"I don't know what to say." said Pietro in a husky voice and Clint clapped him on the arm.

"How about you didn't see that-"

"I swear to god old man." said Pietro batting his hand off chuckling

"Are you sure?" I said turning to Laura "You barely even know us."

She looked down at her son and walked over to me. "Yes I do. You've had my husband's back since you met him, I know how much the team cares about you both and Clint and Nat never stop talking about you. I'm sure."

I was speechless, there was this child in front of me that I could now have partial responsibility over and I was terrified. But there was something about the way Clint was looking at me, expectant and slightly proud, I couldn't say no. I nodded and he beamed at me. Pietro leaned back on his arm and looked from me to Nathan. Something in his eyes changed and I saw his lips tighten slightly, like he was holding back a smile.

"I'm in." he said looking directly at me. Something warm in my chest seemed to expand and I had to look away. Laura bent down slightly and Nathan leaned out of her arms trying to get at me.

"You want to hold him?" she asked angling herself so she could easily pass him to me.

"I dunno if I'm any good with-" I tried to get out of it but she'd already passed him over. "Oh ok."

"This is your aunty Blake." said Clint ruffling my hair fondly as I adjusted myself so I could support Nathan's head. I didn't have time to though before he started to pull himself up on my shoulder so he could see the person sat behind me. I laughed and holding onto him very tight sat down on the sofa next to Pietro.

Nathan was happy to sit in my lap as long as he could see the man next to him. Pietro stretched out his hand amused and Nathan grabbed one of his fingers in his pudgy grip.

"Hey lil guy." said Pietro grinning at me as Nathan laughed still holding onto his finger. I was so conscious of keeping the baby on my lap that I hardly noticed anything else.

"Hey Blake" said Clint from the chair opposite me "You're doing fine, chill out." I looked over then at Pietro. He was leaning across me so he could reach the baby and his face was inches from mine. I watched him as he played with Nathan, I wouldn't have guessed it even after knowing him this long but he seemed to be good with kids. I was still scared of moving wrong and upsetting the baby. Then I felt Pietro's hand closed round mine which was resting on Nathan's back keeping him sat up. His thump stroked across the back of my hand soothing me slightly.

"You've got this." he said quietly so only I could hear him. I relaxed slightly and felt Nathan do the same, he calmed down so much that he let his head droop onto my chest and closed his eyes, hand still clamped around Pietro's finger and fell asleep.

"That, is amazing." said Laura to me "It takes me hours to get him to fall asleep usually."

Pietro grinned at me "Guess you're not as bad as you thought."

"Huh, well you can't get up now until he wakes up." said Clint "Payback for being smart earlier. Come on honey." he laughed and put his arm round his wife's shoulder.

"Hey wait." I watched them walk out of the room worried, what if Nathan woke up and wanted his Mom, what if he didn't wake up for hours and I got dead legs. They'd already gone into the garden before I could call to them back.

"Great, what did I get myself into." I said looking down at the sleeping baby in my arms. I had to admit it wasn't as worrying when he was asleep though because he wasn't fidgeting around.

"I didn't expect that." said Pietro slowly prying his finger out of Nathan's. "Wanda is going to have a field day teasing us you know."

"I guess but she wouldn't be as bad as you." he nodded like it was a fair point. As soon as his finger was free Nathan turned over and grabbed a fistful of my hair in his hand and nuzzled into my chest. That feeling filled my chest again, like a hot balloon expanding.

"Aw my god Pietro, I want one." I said jokingly as Nathan put his thumb in his mouth and sucked on it in his sleep.

"Alright."

I froze and looked round at him. There was no one else in the room so he had to have said it but my brain couldn't comprehend the words.

"What?" I asked stunned

"You heard me."

"I, what? I didn't, I...you mean...wait what?" I stuttered trying to get my mind round the words

"You are so funny when you're freaked out." he said tilting his head to the side to look at me

I tried to keep my voice calm and quiet so I didn't wake Nathan. "Are you serious, you want-" I couldn't finish, the words got caught in my throat

"You don't?" he said looking ever so slightly worried he'd said the wrong thing.

I thought about that. Of course I wanted kids. Even though the whole idea terrified me I couldn't see myself in twenty years without them. But I never dreamt for a second Pietro did, he just didn't seem like the settle down type. All the time we'd been together why hadn't it even crossed my mind.

"I do but...I didn't know that's something you wanted, like ever." I said truthfully, there was no point sugar coating it.

"I'd never really thought about it until recently." he said and I held my breath, I didn't have anything to say so I hoped he would carry on "Nearly dying, nearly watching you die put a lot of things in perspective for me. Then I see Barton and his family, they're happy. I didn't think that was possible."

Some of my initial panic ebbed away "Course it's possible, not every family grows up in the way that yours did. Proof is right here." I said looking down at Nathan who was still fast asleep.

"But is it possible for me..with you?" he said questioningly

"What right now?" I choked out feeling the panic rise in my chest again, I wasn't ready yet. I had a sudden urge to run out of the room and reminded myself I had a small person in my lap.

He looked taken aback too "I..I didn't mean right...well if really you wanted-"

I laughed nervously understanding his meaning and seeing what he was willing to do to make me happy. I leaned into his shoulder. "No you idiot. But some day, it would be nice to have the option." His shoulders dropped as he let out a breath and rested his head on mine.

"Good because it's there." he said seriously

"You know if you wanted give me a heart attack, that was the best way to go." I said smiling and felt him chuckle under my cheek.

The back door opened and Clint and Laura came in carrying a few of the kids toys from the garden. I quickly sat up and Pietro jumped to his feet. Clint looked at us suspiciously amused "What did I walk in on?"

Pietro looked at me and shook his head very slightly. I knew he didn't want to give Clint any ammo to tease us with.

"Adult conversations." I said twisting round to look at him "You wouldn't understand."

"You are seriously pushin it, kid." he said with a smile

"She's right though." said Pietro and Clint rolled his eyes

"What did I say, ganging up." he said to Laura and she squeezed his arm

"I'd like to see you all in a room with Nat." she said coming over to me and holding out her hands for her son.

"No you really wouldn't." I said slowly pulling my hair out of Nathan's grip and passing him to Laura. She smiled and then gave me a guilty look. "What is it?"

"Clint said you wouldn't mind but we have to take Nathan to see his Grandmother, could you watch the kids until we get back? We won't be long, it's just she's not doing too well and we want her to meet him before-"

"Hey it's fine, I said I'd help out. When do they get back?" I said and she looked at the clock.

"Honey." she said to Clint "You should be going to get them soon it's almost half past."

"Got it." he said grabbing the keys she threw him with precision and heading to the door.

Within twenty minutes he was back with the kids and him and Laura were strapping Nathan into his car seat. "Here is the number, but we'll only be an hour or so." he said getting in as Laura kissed Lila goodbye. When they'd gone the kids ran into the house and sat in front of the TV.

I leaned against the door frame for a moment watching the car pull away. I heard him move behind me and turned to face him.

"You really meant it?" he asked searching my face for any hint of doubt. The idea of having a family had always been on my mind, but I'd never put any thought into who it would be with. It didn't really matter to me before, I was young and too focused on being the best agent I could. Now though it didn't seem so ridiculous to imagine it with the man in front of me, I'd never trusted anyone so fully in my entire life as I did Pietro.

"Yeah." I said "Whatever happens I want a future with you even if it's full of drama and field missions every other day."

"It probably will be." he said stepping up to me

"I don't care."

"You realise what you're getting yourself into?"

"Nope but you know me, I like surprises." I said and he smirked at me.

"We'll have our hands full you know." he said leaning against my arm

"How come?"

"Blake, we're both enhanced. Chances are any...any children we have, will be as well." I hadn't thought about that. It was bad enough trying to keep up with Pietro let alone a tiny version of him that wouldn't even listen to me. And what if they got my abilities on top of his, then we'd need some serious help. I chuckled to myself and he grinned "Sounds fun, no?"

"Yeah or a disaster waiting to happen." He smirked then looked down at my side. I wondered what it was until someone pulled my sleeve. It is Lila.

"Blake?" she said in a small voice and I crouched down next to her. This age I could deal with, I had my sister after all and she wasn't a baby. "Can we play outside?" I was happy she was talking to me now so I agreed right away.

"Sure thing, what do you wanna play?" I asked as Cooper sidled up to his sister and nudged her.

"Go on ask them." he said and she blushed

"Can you show us your powers? Aunty Nat said you're super strong and fast." she said and looked up at Pietro.

"Not that fast." he said and sped out into the garden "You coming?" he called back

"Wow cool." said Cooper and ran after him. Lila stretched out her hand and I held onto it walking her out into the garden to join the boys. She sat herself on her swing and waited for us to do something. I felt like the nights entertainment but didn't want to disappoint her. Cooper picked up his football and threw it to me.

"How far can you kick it?" he asked excitedly

"I dunno I've never played before." I said realizing how odd that was. Pietro braced next to me ready to run. I nodded and dropped the ball, before it hit the floor I slammed my foot into it as hard as I could. The noise made me jump as it echoed around the woods and in a second I'd lost sight of the ball. A trail of blue followed the path it had gone and before I could blink he'd skidded to a stop in front of me and tossed the ball back to Cooper who caught it open mouthed.

Lila clapped from her swing. "Do it again Blake." she said and smiled at me for the first time since I'd met her.

The next hour was spent launching objects into the surrounding woods and watching Pietro run after them and bring them back. The kids didn't seem to get bored and Pietro was having as much fun showing off. I had to call it quits when my phone rang. It was good timing because Cooper had just handed me a flower pot to throw and I was almost certain that it was antique.

"Not that I think it's your Mom's." I said pulling my phone out of my pocket. He looked disappointed but put it back down.

I didn't recognise the number again but I answered it because I did recognise the S.H.E.I.L.D logo that covered my screen. "Hello?"

"Please state your name and rank." said a cool voice at the other end

"What who is-"

"Please state your name-"

"Jeez ok, Agent Deveraux. Rank and classification: Avengers Initiative." I said cutting her off. Pietro came to a stop next to me waiting to hear what was happening.

"Thank you Agent. Directing you through." I waited until someone else picked up the line

"Bought damn time Deveraux, I've been calling you for the past two days." he said in a sarcastic voice and my eyes widened

"Director Fury?"

"Who else would it be, and it's not director anymore agent."

"Sorry Sir, what's this about. Is the team-"

"Keep your head on everyone's fine, but we have some news I think you should get back to base. You and the punk need briefing."

I tried to disregard his dig at Pietro "On?"

"The Asgardian is back." he said sounding grim "And he's got word on the Infinity Gems."

I gripped the phone tightly in my hand and heard some crack. Pietro put his hand on my back and leaned down to look at me

"Are you alright?" he asked and I shook my head silently

"Sir when do you need us back?" I asked hoping I hadn't broken the phone.

The line was slightly crackly when he responded "Tomorrow asap. We need to talk." he said "But agent, try to enjoy the rest of your day, there's plenty of work to do when you get back." Then the line went dead

I gripped my head and in my hair so much it hurt. Pietro put his hands on my face and forced me to look at him. "What is it?"

"That was Fury." I said feeling my heart sink and stress fill my head again. "Thor's back with info on the gems, like the one Vision has."

Pietro dropped his hands "Is it good or bad news?"

"We'll find out soon. They want us back tomorrow." I said looking over his shoulder at the kids. I felt a slight ache as they looked back at me expectantly. This time yesterday I hadn't had any plan but stay here and then go back to my job. Now I wished I had more time with them and Pietro, I felt myself starting to miss a life I never even had.

"You have to go?" asked Lila looking sad

"Looks like it." I said "But we'll come and visit." I said and she smiled from her seat.

"Dad?" said Cooper as the car pulled into the drive a little too fast. Clint jumped out. "You get the call?" he asked jogging up to us. Pietro nodded and I saw a dark look creep back into his eyes. It had started to fade since we got here, maybe the hope of a different life and being away from the horrors at base had helped us both. But we'd just been shocked back to reality.

"Are we leaving tonight?" he asked Clint who looked over at his kids.

"No. We'll go in the morning." I smiled sadly at him trying to thank him but knowing how much it must hurt him to leave so soon after getting here. "Still got a few hours." He finished walking over to them.

I quickly walked back into the house and turned to Pietro with a resolute look in my eyes. "Guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. So much for having a life." I said and he hugged me so tight I felt every muscle in his body against mine.

"Do you want this to be our last mission?" he asked "If you want out, I'm with you." I was confused at the speed of his suggestion, had he been thinking about it for a while?

"We can't just quit." I said feeling the weight of responsibility burden me again. "People need us to do our job."

"I know but I thought you wanted-" he said looking away from me to where the family sat playing outside "If we go back, we might not ever have that."

"Who says?" I said grabbing his chin so he looked down at me "Why can't we have both, it's not like we have to decide right now."

He laughed and grinned down at me "I should have known you'd find a way round it."

"Pietro think about it. Being an Avenger, being part of the team. That's who we are. In the future that might change and then we can do whatever we want, go wherever we want. I'm not saying I don't want out because it's tempting." I said remembering the conversation we'd had in this room not an hour before. His tall reassuring body pressed up against me made it even harder to utter the next words "But I just can't leave, not right now." I finished hoping he would understand.

I still wanted all the things he'd said but the little voice at the back of my mind told me it would be selfish to not see this through. I was an Avenger now, there was more than my happiness at stake if I abandoned the people who needed me.

"Blake." he said looking directly into my eyes a smile unfolding on his face "It's alright, I can wait."


End file.
